Could we, one day in the next year or two, be looking at a Pittsburgh Steelers starting secondary that includes Joey Porter Jr. and Cory Trice Jr. on the outside and Patrick Peterson manning up in the slot at the cornerback positions?
Time will tell whether or not that’s wishful thinking, but the notion of Peterson playing inside is far more likely to be a reality, and sooner rather than later. The 13th-year veteran is already taking reps there and is embracing it—and even seeing certain advantages to it.
“It gives me the ability to play even slower than on the outside, because on the outside, it’s you, the numbers, and the receiver”, he told reporters, via Amanda Godsey. “I’ve done that for the most part of my career, and now I’m moving around, and moving to the inside is just helping me play a little bit slower. I understand the game. I understand coverages. I understand schemes. Now it’s just all about putting me there to see how successful I can be”.
Peterson is more aware than any of his detractors of the fact that he may have lost a half a step or so over the course of his 12 years in the NFL, so there is certainly grounds for thinking that a move to the inside could be beneficial to him, and perhaps even elongate his career.
When he first signed, he said that he has long had aspirations of playing in the NFL for 14 seasons. He signed a two-year contract with 12 years already under his belt. I don’t know where he got that number from, but perhaps a successful move to seeing more time in the slot would encourage him to play longer, and allow him to do so as well.
The future Hall of Famer even joked that the Steelers’ new young cornerbacks, Porter and Trice, are helping to keep him young, throwing in a line about playing three more years—as opposed to the two that he had planned on.
But there are still a lot of variables in play right now. The Steelers are using OTAs to explore their options. They may not even have anybody else that they feel comfortable logging a large amount of snaps on the outside, so for all we know at this point, they may not be able to afford to play Peterson in the slot.
As of now, he is likely expected to start across from Levi Wallace in any base 3-4 front. It’s less clear who the third cornerback would be. It could be Chandon Sullivan, Tre Norwood, or Duke Dawson if they don’t feel comfortable with Peterson in the slot. Or they could still add somebody from the outside.
It wouldn’t be a bad thing to have a bigger-bodied presence in the slot after years of Mike Hilton and Arthur Maulet. Peterson still has enough athleticism and agility to keep up with the shiftier wide receivers, and on the average play he’ll have less ground to cover as well. But he’ll have other responsibilities that are new to him on top of that, and I don’t suspect they’ll be blitzing him a great deal.
