The Steelers don’t know if Calvin Austin III will be available in their next game, but that doesn’t change anything for Ben Skowronek. The veteran wide receiver very much knows his role—and that includes rejecting the position label. Over the summer, he said he would rather have FP next to his name rather than WR. That’s Football Player, plain and simple.
“As a competitor, you obviously want the ball in your hands and things. But I don’t think I’m like any other receiver in the league. I truly don’t care how many catches I have; I’ll still be happy if we win,” Skowronek said this past week, via the Steelers’ website. “I want to be in the game on offense because I know what I can bring. But I feel like there’s a lot more ways to affect the game than just catching the ball.”
Skowronek has played 35 offensive snaps this season, about half of which have come on running plays. He has one target in the passing game, a 22-yard touchdown in the season opener. And the only reason he saw that ball was because a blown coverage left him wide open. While he would be happy to contribute more in the receiving game, he just wants to play football — and win.
“I want to be that enforcer. I want to be the guy who can get the run game going in that room,” Skowronek said. “And I play special teams, too. Those are the kind of stats I care about, I guess. But I want to just be successful as a team. I don’t care who blocks a kick, I don’t care who makes the tackle. I just care about winning every single Sunday.”
Due to Calvin Austin’s injury last Sunday, both Scotty Miller and Ben Skowronek saw more snaps. Skowronek played more than half of his total offensive snaps for the season on that day, 18 out of 35. But that doesn’t mean the Steelers would go into a game planning on him as a starter.
They value the complete picture, of course, of what he offers. Now, he probably wouldn’t be here if we went by his receiving potential exclusively. Not that he can’t catch passes or hasn’t contributed earlier in his career to the passing game. But Ben Skowronek is who he is because of the totality of his game.
That includes six tackles already this season and a fumble recovery. While he only has 35 offensive snaps, he’s up to 67 on special teams. The Steelers signed Skowronek at the start of last season and immediately installed him as a gunner. The fact that they signed him to a two-year deal this offseason should tell you what they thought about what he brings to the table. And that goes far beyond catching passes, all in service to winning games.
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