The Pittsburgh Steelers are gonna be a heck of a trivia question answer when we look back on Desmond King’s career.
King broke his own news story late Tuesday night when he posted “welp on to the next” on Twitter/X, sending Steelers fans into a flurry of curiosity.
Not long after, it was reported that the Steelers do plan on moving on from King. Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Pittsburgh has informed King that they plan to release him if they cannot find a trade partner.
King played literally ONE defensive snap while with the Steelers, this brutal missed assignment that led to a Baltimore Ravens touchdown.
The Steelers picked up King after the Houston Texans had somewhat surprisingly cut him shortly before the season started.
The primary amount of Kings’s work in Pittsburgh (if we could even call it that) came on special teams, where he played a whopping 19% of the snaps available on those units, including 8% in his last game as a Steeler.
Despite being a defensive back, King has a background in kick and punt returning, as the Steelers themselves saw when he ran back a 73 yard punt return touchdown against them back in 2018. King returned 4 total kicks in a Steelers uniform, averaging 22.0 yards per return.
His impending departure has drawn a lot of ire within an already angry fanbase. Much of the criticism stems not only from King’s lack of opportunity within the organization, but also who the Steelers are currently retaining over him.
Notably on the defensive side, cornerback Chandon Sullivan has remained on the team, despite having a quarterback rating of 92.4 against and routinely being on the wrong end of plays. In addition to that, the Steelers’ hesitancy to elevate Joey Porter Jr. to a full-time role has left the defense susceptible to splash plays.
But King’s departure could have ramifications for the return game as well. Unless Anthony McFarland, who has been on injured reserve for weeks, comes back for Sunday’s game, their return group looks rather thin.
The move also throws Gunner Olszewski back into the fire again as well, who could be put back into the return game after fumbling and putting the game in jeopardy two weeks ago.
Coming in for King, the Steelers are reportedly bringing in rookie cornerback Darius Rush, signing him off of the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad.
Rush was a fifth round pick by the Indianapolis Colts this past spring, but was waived in late August, where the Chiefs picked him up.
Now, he is gettig a chance on an NFL roster.
Rush actually has a very fitting name; his 4.36 40-yard dash time was one of the fastest times amongst his groups, and he used the NFL combine to show off his speedy and explosive athletic ability.
While perhaps not on the same talent level as Joey Porter Jr. looks to be right now, Rush does have a similar physical stature, measuring at 6′ 2 and 198 pounds.
(Featured photo of Desmond King by AP Photo/Maria Lysaker)
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