The Pittsburgh Steelers find that their 2016 season ended a bit prematurely, and are undergoing the exit meeting process a couple weeks sooner than they would have liked. Never the less, what must be done must be done, and we are now at the time of the year where we close the book on one season and look ahead to the next.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between Head Coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2016 season.
Player: Sean Davis
Position: Safety
Experience: 1 Year
The Steelers drafted Maryland safety Sean Davis in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft in part because they were intrigued by his versatility. Primarily a starter in college, he spent part of his junior year and all of his senior season at the cornerback position due to team need.
That position flexibility came in handy early in the season when the Steelers were forced to work him in the slot at cornerback due to injury, but when Artie Burns was sufficiently prepared to serve as the nickel back, the coaching staff was finally able to scale things back for their other rookie defensive back and allow him to concentrate on the position he was drafted to play.
That scaling back proved to be effective for him, as he spent the rest of his time leading into the bye week in preparation for the role that was unveiled after the bye. Davis began rotating with Robert Golden as the starting strong safety for the first couple of game following the week off, but then began taking all of the snaps as he assumed the starting job.
Davis’ move into the starting lineup full-time, in fact, just so happened to coincide with what ultimately proved to be a nine-game winning streak that only ended in the AFC Championship game in Foxboro. On the season, he recorded 70 tackles, intercepted one pass, recorded five more passes defensed, recovered a fumble—and had another fumble recovery for a touchdown negated—in addition to a sack and a half—and another sack and a half that also ended up being negated. He had nine tackles and a sack against the Patriots in the playoffs.
In fact, he played so well that he earned the team’s rookie of the year award in the very rare year in which there was very stiff competition. Burns recorded three interceptions while Javon Hargrave recorded three sacks, including one against the Patriots, and recorded a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
