The secondary for the Pittsburgh Steelers underwent a significant transformation this offseason, losing key pieces in cornerbacks Cameron Sutton and Arthur Maulet, and safety Terrell Edmunds, while adding veterans Patrick Peterson, Chandon Sullivan and Keanu Neal along with rookies Joey Porter Jr. and Cory Trice Jr.
That transformation might not make the Steelers all that better though.
Pro Football Focus certainly seems to feel that way, ranking the Steelers’ secondary at No. 18 overall in the NFL entering the 2023 season, putting them in the bottom half of the league.
“It may be a shock to see this unit so low, but the Steelers’ secondary hasn’t graded in the top half of the league since 2020,” PFF’s John Kosko writes regarding the Steelers’ ranking. “Peterson had a huge bounce-back season in 2022 for the Vikings, finishing with a 77.8 overall grade and five interceptions, the most he has recorded in a single season since 2012. Incoming rookie Joey Porter Jr. also had a career year this past fall, allowing only 143 yards in 10 games. This unit will need to gel quickly if they are to rise up these rankings during the season.”
According to PFF’s rankings, the projected starting secondary in Pittsburgh includes safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Damontae Kazee, and cornerbacks Patrick Peterson, Joey Porter Jr. and Levi Wallace.
The losses of Sutton and Edmunds certainly hurt as they were two of the better pieces in the secondary for the Steelers, especially Sutton. He did so much for Pittsburgh’s defense from a versatility and communication standpoint that he’ll be hard to replace.
Pittsburgh certainly is aiming to do so with Peterson, a cerebral veteran in his own right who communicates very well and rarely gets beaten deep. He’s seen and done everything in the league and is coming off of a strong season in Minnesota, though that was in a zone-heavy scheme with the Vikings, whereas Pittsburgh is a man-heavy scheme.
Peterson turns 33 next month, which means he’s much, much closer to the end of his career than anything else. That said, he is coming off of a very strong 2022 season, recording five interceptions and turning in the best PFF grade of his career since the 2018 season in Arizona.
While he’s been primarily a boundary corner for nearly all of his Hall of Fame career, Peterson has hinted all offseason on his “All Things Covered” podcast with cousin and former Steelers cornerback Bryant McFadden that he’s going to move around quite a bit defensively. Initially, that seemed like a bit of a stretch for a cornerback who is on the wrong side of 30 and played some of his best ball in zone coverage.
But early returns from OTAs and minicamp have Peterson moving all over the Steelers defense in the secondary, giving offenses new looks.
Peterson played coy about exactly how he’s been used but said he might have a similar role in 2023 as Sutton had the past two seasons. Sutton replaced Steven Nelson as an outside corner in 2021 and 2022 but moved all around the defense, bumping inside to the slot, acting as the dime defender, and taking part in post-snap rotations to give quarterbacks different looks.
Wallace was rather solid in 2022 with the Steelers, recording a career-high four interceptions. He’s just a steady piece overall. When in man coverage last season, Wallace was a force with a league-best passer rating of just 41.8 in man coverage, which is rather remarkable, as is the fact he wasn’t beat for a touchdown in man coverage and recorded three of his four interceptions in man-to-man.
While his lack of top-end athleticism likely prevents him from ever ascending to elite corner status, his route recognition, patience in coverage, and elite ball skills make him an effective corner and a seamless fit in Pittsburgh’s takeaway-oriented defense.
Porter is the headliner at the cornerback position. All eyes will be on the Penn State product, who shockingly slipped to the second round, where the Steelers snagged him in the 2023 NFL Draft at No. 32 overall to open up Day 2. He’s the true prototype cornerback in today’s league with great length and athleticism, though he needs to work on his ball skills a bit.
Then there’s the best safety in football in Fitzpatrick patrolling the back half, right alongside the veteran Kazee, who came on strong late in the season after returning from injury, likely making the Steelers comfortable letting Edmunds walk after five seasons in the Black and Gold.
Fitzpatrick is that true eraser and can cover up mistakes in front of him. He is able to move all over to allow the Steelers’ defense to try and confuse opposing offenses.
Though question marks remain in the secondary, it was a bit surprising to see this group sit at No. 18 overall, sandwiched in between the Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints — two really strong secondaries overall. In the rankings from PFF, Pittsburgh was dead last in the AFC North with the Baltimore Ravens at No. 5, Cleveland Browns at No. 8, and Cincinnati Bengals at No. 15, making for quite the perceived gap between the Steelers and the rest of the division in the secondary.
