With training camp just around the corner, it’s time to turn our focus on what is going on within each position, and on the roster as a whole. Over the course of the next few weeks, we will be taking a closer look at some of the roster battles that we expect to see unfold over the course of training camp as the Pittsburgh Steelers prepare for the start of the 2023 season.
This year, there will be no quarterback competition overshadowing everything that goes on at Latrobe, but there will still be plenty of battles to sift through, both in the starting lineup and in depth. The Steelers added many new faces this offseason, rookie and veteran alike, and it’s in training camp that we begin to see where all the pieces fit.
Position: Strong Safety
Up for Grabs: Starting Job
In the Mix: Damontae Kazee, Keanu Neal
Here’s a question we didn’t have to ponder for the better part of half a decade: who is the Steelers’ starting strong safety going to be? Terrell Edmunds was in that role almost invariably since his first snap in the NFL in the season opener as a rookie in 2018, but now he’s with the Philadelphia Eagles.
So who replaces him next to Minkah Fitzpatrick? Well, it figures to be one of two candidates who know each other rather well. After spending five of the past six seasons as teammates in Atlanta and Dallas, Damontae Kazee and Keanu Neal are once again reunited in Pittsburgh.
Kazee was with the Steelers last season, signing to be the top backup behind Edmunds and Fitzpatrick. Though he missed the first half of the year due to injury, he finished the season with hundreds of snaps played and a couple of starts, as well as a couple of interceptions.
A former first-round pick, Neal was signed as a free agent this offseason on a multi-year deal. Considered to be more of a box defender whereas Kazee often gets pigeonholed as more of a coverage safety, the two contrast well.
That’s one of the main reasons many believe the Steelers may employ a platoon at the spot rather than rely on one player logging 100 percent of the snaps, though that’s easier said than done, and perhaps not particularly desirable.
Communication is just as important between the safeties as it is just about anywhere else on the field, so you don’t really want to have guys coming in and out of that strong safety spot if you can avoid it. That’s why I’m somewhat hesitant to buy into the notion that Pittsburgh would deploy Kazee and Neal at strong safety based on the in-game circumstances or the opponent.
Though there may nominally be a competition for the starting role, both safeties should see meaningful playing time. The Steelers want to run three-safety packages and they believe that they have the three safeties who will be capable of running it for them in Fitzpatrick, Kazee, and Neal.
