In today’s NFL, the game is transitioning rather quickly to a position-less style, especially defensively.
Gone are the days of the true inside linebacker or the boundary-only cornerback. In are the days of guys being able to move around, play different positions and stay on the field through all three downs throughout games.
Ahead of the 2023 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are again trying to build towards that, especially in the secondary at the safety position.
Star Minkah Fitzpatrick holds down one spot, while veterans in Damontae Kazee and Keanu Neal are vying for playing time opposite Fitzpatrick. Then there are young safeties like Tre Norwood, Kenny Robinson and Elijah Riley also battling for roles.
Early in camp, players are moving around, giving the offense different looks in a sign of things to come for opposing offenses. That versatility and ever-evolving lineup can be concerning for outsiders with so many moving parts and uncertainty, but for Neal it’s all about chess, not checkers.
“I think it’s gonna be a lot of moving pieces. It is hard to define a significant starter right now. It’s a lot of guys moving around, playing different things, doing well. It’s gonna be a good year,” Neal said to reporters Tuesday following the first padded practice of training camp, according to video via Steelers.com. “I think it benefits us. I think it helps us out. It’s playing chess, not checkers.
“Having guys be interchangeable pieces, moving around, doing different things, I think it’s gonna be beneficial for us.”
Last season the Steelers aimed for that three-safety look defensively with Fitzpatrick, Kazee and Terrell Edmunds. While they weren’t able to see it until the second half of the season due to an injury suffered in the final preseason game by Kazee that kept him out until Week 10, once the three-safety look hit the field Pittsburgh was able to do a bunch of different things in the secondary.
That included moving former cornerback Cameron Sutton inside on passing downs, getting the likes of Ahkello Witherspoon and Levi Wallace on the field at cornerback to help in coverage. That three-safety look also helped the Steelers be able to play the run with an extra box defender in Edmunds while still being able to cover tight ends and running backs in the passing game.
That’s where Neal hopefully comes in this season with Fitzpatrick and Kazee expected to hold down the top two safety spots.
Neal has played strong safety and linebacker in his career in the NFL, so that experience is there. Riley and Norwood have gotten snaps at slot corner in nickel early in camp, while Robinson has played well as a free safety option.
Pittsburgh is going to move guys around, put guys in and out of the lineup and change looks in an effort to try and confuse opposing offenses and especially quarterbacks in hopes of forcing mistakes. That’s the chess, not checkers portion of the game.
We’ll see how it works out this season, but the Steelers have the right number of pieces on the board and have the ultimate checkmate piece in Fitzpatrick in the end.
