While the Pittsburgh Steelers pass defense hasn’t been horrendous the past couple of years, it would be a stretch to call it good. Although they were still able to make splash plays thanks to players such as Minkah Fitzpatrick, the secondary still gave up big plays in bad spots. Last year against Pittsburgh, QB Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles and QB Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills each had one of his best games of the year. With turnover in the secondary this season and a huge question mark at slot cornerback, many have tempered expectations about Pittsburgh’s pass defense.
It could, in fact, be the best it’s been in years.
After losing CB Cameron Sutton and S Terrell Edmunds in free agency, Pittsburgh signed CB Patrick Peterson and S Keanu Neal. In addition, the team drafted CB Joey Porter Jr. with the 32nd pick in the draft, and he has turned heads early in his Steelers career. In college Porter was lockdown and it is transitioning to the NFL. So far during training camp he has been making plays, including a nice interception off QB Kenny Pickett. While initially he was expected to rotate and be used primarily in sub-packages, his camp performance signals he could win a starting spot as an outside corner for Week One.
But how does this lead to a better pass defense this season than the one last year that had Sutton and Edmunds? Last year, the outside cornerbacks struggled. CB Ahkello Witherspoon missed over half the season and when he played, he wasn’t very good, so his absence shouldn’t hurt. CB Levi Wallace played well last year and he returns, but he isn’t an elite talent or a number-one corner. Sutton was very good though, and his loss will likely be felt.
But the addition of Porter could help minimize the loss of Sutton. All reports out of camp are that Porter is working extremely hard and is playing well. He is already seeing reps with the ones and making plays against the starting offense. Sutton, while a very good cornerback, is not the physical freak of nature that Porter is, and that can really help against teams like the Cincinnati Bengals, who have their own freak of nature in Ja’Marr Chase.
While being a rookie cornerback is difficult, we’ve seen rookies dominate that position, like Sauce Gardner last season. It’s difficult to say that Porter will be Gardner before seeing him in game action but if he’s as good as advertised once game action comes, Sutton’s loss hurts far less.
Slot cornerback is still a big question mark, though. Head coach Mike Tomlin is still undecided on who will be starting in the slot, but names like Chandon Sullivan, Duke Dawson, and even Peterson have been floated. Just recently in a training camp practice, Pittsburgh’s three corners in its nickel defense were Wallace and Porter on the outside and Peterson in the slot. This could be an upgrade over what the Steelers saw most of last year in their nickel, Sutton and Wallace on the outside and Arthur Maulet in the slot.
The trio of Peterson, Porter, and Wallace could also force more turnovers than last year’s trio. Peterson himself picked off five passes last year, more than Sutton and Maulet had combined. And while Porter’s ball production was weak in college, so far in training camp he isn’t showing stone hands, instead showcasing good ball skills having picked off a few passes already.
Moving to the safeties, while Edmunds was strong in the run game; in the passing game he wasn’t as strong. Last season he allowed a passer rating against of 116.2. Safety Damontae Kazee, who will likely see more snaps this year with Edmunds gone, not only had better ball production with two picks in only nine games but also only allowed a passer rating against of 45.5. Now obviously this is a much smaller sample size, but purely from a pass coverage point of view, Kazee was more productive.
Throw in a healthy front seven and in particular EDGE T.J. Watt, and the secondary has the potential to force a lot of turnovers with an elite pass rush breathing down the neck of opposing quarterbacks. A great pass rush and a good secondary go hand in hand, and one always elevates the other. The Steelers’ defensive strength is and will be their pass rush and it can help the new faces in the secondary. With the potential of the secondary this year to be a ball-hawking one, this can really make a difference.
Finally, the Steelers aren’t facing too many elite quarterbacks this year. Other than their divisional opponents the best quarterback they face is Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars. There is no Allen or Hurts on the schedule like last season. That should also help the pass defense numbers.
Obviously, there are question marks surrounding the Steelers’ secondary as there are a bunch of new faces there. But just because it is new doesn’t mean their pass defense will be bad or mediocre. In fact, it actually has the potential to be good. Porter could be the shutdown cornerback Pittsburgh has coveted for years, and his emergence could lead to the slot cornerback not being as much of a black hole as it looked in early April.
We still have a ways to go to the regular season, but with the way things have looked so far in training camp, it is hard not to think that maybe the pass defense could be the best the Steelers have had in years.
