As of Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers have started working cornerback Doran Grant at safety some during the team’s training camp practices and that’s not terribly surprising at this point as it’s been speculated for some time that it would eventually happen.
At the conclusion of Monday’s training camp practice at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about Grant now being moved around in the secondary.
“We’re going to bounce people around positionally,” Tomlin said Monday. “I wouldn’t read too much into that. He’s always been a guy that we thought is capable of doing some things in there. You know, multiple positional guys is attractive to us.”
Grant, who was drafted by the Steelers last year in the fourth round out of Ohio State, played well in the team’s Friday night preseason opener against the Detroit Lions as not only did he lead the team in tackles, he also intercepted an ill-advised pass in the second quarter and returned it for a touchdown.
Now that Grant has started to receive some work at safety, you have to wonder if the team might ultimately consider keeping just nine total defensive backs on their final 53-man roster this year. Regardless of how the final position numbers ultimately work out, Grant’s spot on the 53 is a virtual lock at this point and it’s pretty much been that way since cornerback Senquez Golson went down with a Lisfranc injury a few weeks ago.
Grant spent the first part of his rookie season on the Steelers practice squad and while he was ultimately promoted to the 53-man roster last November, he only played one defensive snap in the remaining games.
