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90 In 30: Steelers 2021 Training Camp Preview Series: Cameron Sutton, Calvin Taylor, Stephon Tuitt

By Dave Bryan

Posted on July 17, 2021 at 11:30 am

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2021 offseason practices have long since concluded. Next up for the team is their annual training camp, which should get underway in the latter part of July. Ahead of training camp, we will preview the team’s 90-man roster three players at a time for you as part of a 30-post series. This Steelers 90-man roster preview that includes outlooks for each player goes alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow along with.

The next three players we will preview today are Cameron Sutton, Calvin Taylor, and Stephon Tuitt.

CB Cameron Sutton — Sutton, the Steelers third-round selection in the 2017 NFL Draft out of Tennessee, played extensively in 2020. He logged 548 regular season snaps and 186 more on special teams. He played outside and inside throughout the regular season and even started six games and the lone playoff game the team had. In total during the regular season, Sutton recorded 29 total tackles on defense. He also had one tackle for loss, one sack, one interception, eight passes defensed, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery to go along with one special teams tackle. In the Steelers playoff loss to the Browns, Sutton started and played all 67 defensive snaps and 19 more on special teams. He registered two total tackles and a pass defensed in that playoff contest as well.

Outlook: The Steelers re-signed Sutton to a two-year, $9 million contract during the start of free agency and then proceeded to releases veteran cornerback Steven Nelson. In 2021, Sutton is expected to be the Steelers starting outside cornerback in the team’s base defense and potentially in sub packages as well, depending on who the team chooses to play in the slot. There is a chance that we could see Sutton play a lot of snaps inside in sub package situations in 2021 if a young cornerback on the roster such as James Pierre can show worthy of playing on the outside in those situations. With Sutton being an every down player now, he’s unlikely to be asked to play much, if any, on special teams moving forward.

DE Calvin Taylor — The Steelers originally signed Taylor as an undrafted free agent in 2020 out of Kentucky. After failing to make the Steelers initial 53-man roster last season, Taylor resurfaced a few weeks into the season as a member of the team’s practice squad. He remained on the practice squad the remainder of the season and then was re-signed to futures contract earlier this year. Taylor is a unique body type, weighing in at 6082, 310-pounds. He made 22 starts in college at Kentucky, compiling 85 tackles (16.5 for loss), 10.5 sacks, five pass deflections, and three forced fumbles. As a senior, he recorded 36 tackles (9.5 TFL) with four pass deflections and three forced fumbles.

Outlook: The summer outlook for Taylor includes the big-bodied defensive lineman needing to essentially compete for a spot on the team’s Week 1 practice squad. The Steelers have quite a bit of depth on their defensive line depth chart entering training camp and with just six linemen in total likely to be kept on the 53-0man roster, it would take a lot of unforeseen things to happen for Taylor to be one of them. Taylor should get a lot of paying time early in the preseason and he should not be hard to spot whenever he is on the field due to his measurables.

DE Stephon Tuitt — Tuitt played in 15 regular season games in 2020 as he missed one due to COVID-19 protocols. For the season, the former second round draft pick out of Notre Dame recorded 11 sacks, along with 45 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 25 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, and three batted passes. It was a tremendous season overall for Tuitt. Over seven seasons in Pittsburgh, Tuitt now has 34.5 career sacks with 246 tackles, 48 for loss, 94 quarterback hits, six forced fumbles, 13 batted passes, and an interception Tuitt’s 778 snaps played in 2020 were the second-most in his career, trailing only his second season in 2015, during which he logged 873 snaps—a year in which the Steelers defense spent an awful lot of time on the field. He has only logged at least 700 snaps in a season three times, though he also came awfully close in 2018.

Outlook: Tuitt is poised to have another great season in 2021 and potentially one that could rival what he put on tape in 2020. At a minimum, Tuitt should have seven sacks in 2021 and at least 20 quarterback hits. Tuitt has become one of the most underrated defensive linemen in the NFL at this point and is still just 28 years old. If he stays healthy in 2021 and has the kind of season most believe he can have, he might just finally get some Pro Bowl recognition and possible All-Pro votes.

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