The Pittsburgh Steelers’ biggest perceived weakness this season is at cornerback. After losing Cameron Sutton in free agency to the Detroit Lions, and possibly starting a rookie in Joey Porter Jr. there are valid concerns about how the cornerback room will shake out this season. However, the Steelers may have a sneaky lockdown cornerback stuffed in the back of the room: James Pierre.
Pierre is a player that has often been talked about as a player with potential but after a bad 2021 season, including a horrific showing against the Cincinnati Bengals, he was largely forgotten about by fans. But in his short cameos last season he played very well.
Pierre saw 31 targets last season and allowed a completion percentage of only 41.9. In a tweet by The33rdTeamFB, this was the second-best in the NFL with a minimum of 30 targets.
Pierre only saw 24 percent of the snaps on defense last year, and with Pittsburgh drafting Porter and Cory Trice Jr. he may not be in the team’s long-term plans. But I do think there might be something there with Pierre. He showed potential in very limited appearances in 2020 and this past season he was legitimately good when he played. A standout game was when he started against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and allowed two catches on eight targets as a backup secondary helped beat the Tampa Bay.
This season, the secondary situation seems a little murky which may give Pierre an opportunity to see more playing time. After Patrick Peterson, Levi Wallace, and Porter, the room is very unknown. Trice, a seventh-round pick, may not be ready to see the field in Year One, and with Peterson possibly seeing snaps at slot cornerback, it could lead to more snaps on the outside for Pierre.
Sutton’s loss for Pittsburgh this season will be huge as he allowed a completion percentage of only 47.9 on significantly more targets. Pierre does not play inside like Sutton did, which means there is no way he can replace what Sutton did on the field. It will be interesting to see how the loss of Sutton impacts Pittsburgh this season as his versatility was something that no single player can replicate.
I do hope Pierre gets a shot this season. Not only is he a very good special teamer, but he has shown that he can hold his own on the field. While he does not have elite tools like Porter or Trice, Pierre has flashed the ability to be very sticky in coverage. Unfortunately, I don’t think he will have another opportunity to be an every-down starter or close to that. It seems he is not in the long-term starter plans for Pittsburgh, but if the team needs to go to Pierre in a pinch he is certainly capable of providing strong coverage as he showed last year.
