PITTSBURGH — Needless to say, Kaleb Johnson won't be returning kickoffs Sunday. Bill Buckner didn't play much first base after 1986, either.

Question is, why was Johnson returning kickoffs in the first place?

He's not especially fast. He hadn't returned kickoffs regularly since his freshman year at Iowa. He's a rookie. He fumbled in the opener against the Jets. Other than that, he's Devin Hester. If teammate Juan Thornhill hadn't fallen on said fumble, the Steelers could be 0-2.

More alarmingly, when asked Tuesday who might replace Johnson on the return team, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, "I haven't even begun to address it."

No rush, Mike, but there is a game Sunday.

If history holds, Tomlin could turn to another plodding running back or maybe a no-name with no chance or perhaps a return man who used to be good. That has been the Steelers' pattern.

You wouldn't believe some of the names that litter Tomlin's kickoff-return history. More on that below, but I do have a nice appetizer: a dollop of Najeh Davenport served on a Fitzgerald Touissant.

I suppose you could say the Steelers have bigger fish to fry. They do. But it was a 400-pound bluefin tuna that sunk them Sunday. Johnson's blunder basically cost them the game.

As Tomlin put it Tuesday, "a lot of times when you're in close ballgames, particularly early in the year, there's a play in that space — that special teams space — that often shapes or turns a game."

Yes, and that is becoming truer by the day in the kickoff return game now that touchbacks come back to the 35. Yahoo reports that through two weeks, nearly 77% of kickoffs have been returned, which would be the highest rate for a full season since 2010.

This is a big deal. Tomlin and the Steelers must respond accordingly. They thought they beat everyone to the punch last year when they signed Cordarrelle Patterson to capitalize on the newly instituted "dynamic kickoffs."

They might as well have signed Rod Barajas. Patterson wasn't fast anymore, and by season's end his primary duty was shoveling snow. The Steelers finished dead last in kickoff-return average.

So instead of finding a way to assist their annually disappointing offense, they injured it.

It's pathetic, really: The Steelers haven't finished higher than 12th in kickoff returns since 2012 and haven't returned one for longer than 38 yards since 2022. Their last kickoff return for a touchdown was in 2017 (JuJu Smith-Schuster, 96 yards against the Browns).

On average, Tomlin's teams have finished 20th in kickoff returns since 2007. But that is just a number. It's the names that stand out. They make you wonder what in the world Tomlin was thinking and if his frightful judgment translates to other areas.

I mean, Davenport — a 250-pound road grader nicknamed "Dump Truck" (don't ask) — actually returned kicks. And averaged a measly 17.6 yards per tote one year. Gary Russell returned kicks, as did Touissant (19.7), Mewelde Moore (15.9), Benny Snell Jr. and a person named Kerrith Whyte Jr. (18.9).

Ryan Switzer was so bad at returning kickoffs in 2018 that the Steelers brought him back to do it again in 2019, splitting time with Whyte. They finished 31st both years and did not return one kick farther than 35 yards.

Do you remember a man named Terrell Watson? Me neither, but he returned seven kickoffs for the Steelers in 2017 (none longer than 25 yards).

Jacoby Jones was legendary returning kicks in Baltimore. He was less than that here, as were Felix Jones and Desmond King, not to mention Sammi Coates, Markus Wheaton, Cobi Hamilton, Godwin Igwebuike and Gunner Olszewski, who averaged precisely 14 yards on his five returns.

Chris Rainey, on the other hand, was pretty good. So were Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Stefan Logan and Allan Rossum, who returned one for a touchdown in Tomlin's first season.

In three of Tomlin's first six years, the Steelers finished in the top 10 in kickoff returns. It's time to get back there, and I don't see many great candidates on the roster.

Kenneth Gainwell seems OK. Calvin Austin III didn't return kickoffs in college, although he is at least fast. So is Scotty Miller, but he's never really done it, either. Roman Wilson didn't have much success returning kicks in college.

Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe Tomlin will get around to it before Sunday.

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