Last season, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Cameron Sutton played nearly 25 percent of all defensive snaps and he was used all over the defense mostly in sub package situations. That position flexibility that Sutton has should allow for him to have a similar role in the Steelers defense in 2020 and might even lead to the Tennessee product logging even more snaps this season.
On Monday, Steelers secondary coach Tom Bradley talked to the media and during his Zoom session he was asked about Sutton and his position flexibility and the likelihood of him potentially playing more defensive snaps than he played last season.
“Well, I think the thing about Cam, he is a guy that’s, in our eyes, is very valuable because of he can do all the different things,” Bradley said of Sutton. You know, he plays safety, he plays corner, he plays nickel. He can play dime. He plays all over the place and that’s a guy that’s good to have on your team because he’s like putty, we can put him anywhere, and he does a heck of a job and knows what he’s doing.”
After the Steelers originally selected Sutton in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft, head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Kevin Colbert both lauded his position flexibility coming out of college as well as his smarts, that included him knowing where every player on defense should be and their respective roles.
While Sutton would go on to only play 113 total defensive snaps as a rookie, his sophomore season included him playing 240 defensive snaps. Last season, he logged 265 total defensive snaps and it sounds like that number has a chance to be even greater than that in 2020 even with everybody staying fully healthy in the secondary due to his ability to play all over the place.
Due to inexperience on the Steelers cornerback depth chart, Sutton will likely start the 2020 regular season as the primary backup to the team’s two starters, Steven Nelson and Joe Haden. Sutton will also likely once again be the primary backup to the team’s starting nickel cornerback, Mike Hilton, as well.
2020 will be an interesting season for Sutton as well because he’s now in the final year of his rookie contract and thus will be scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in March. If he plays well in 2020 and continues to show his position flexibility, Sutton might just wind up being a well sought-after cornerback during the early stages of free agency. In the meantime, however, look for the Steelers to play him once again all over the place in their defense in 2020.
“So, we look at Cam as a very valuable tool to this defense,” Bradley said on Monday.
