One of the principle missions of this offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers was to add competition wherever possible at all parts of the roster. They were able to do that rather successfully, including in the secondary, where veteran FS Minkah Fitzpatrick expects it to add to what they do best: cause chaos. Because it’s what their defense is built around.
“We have a really talented, really diverse and versatile secondary. We’ve got many guys that can play more than one position. We’ve got a lot of guys that have experience”, he told reporters on Wednesday, via the team’s website. “You can move guys around and create chaos pre-snap”.
“I think that’s a big part of how we play, because we don’t run a complicated scheme”, he added. “You know what we’re gonna do at the end of the day. It’s Pittsburgh. But I think when you can cause some confusion when the ball is betting snapped to the quarterback, I think that’ll help out”.
The Steelers used to run an exceedingly complicated defensive scheme under Dick LeBeau when he was the defensive coordinator. One of the reasons that the team was looking to move away from him was because head coach Mike Tomlin wanted to simplify the defense in a way that would make it easier for young players to contribute right away—a necessity in today’s league.
Keith Butler served as defensive coordinator for the better part of the past decade before being succeeded by Teryl Austin following his retirement, but not a great deal has changed at the core level. That’s one of the beauties of simplicity.
And complexity is not a necessary ingredient for a great defense. You don’t have to do too many different things if you can do a few things very well in a variety of different ways, and that’s what the Steelers—and basically everybody else in the league—try to do.
It’s one of the reasons that they are putting greater and greater emphasis on position flexibility. If you have a number of players on the field who can be in two or three different places by the time the ball is snapped, you’re going to have a hard time reading what the actual defense you’re seeing is.
That’s why Fitzpatrick is excited about a player like Damontae Kazee or Keanu Neal, two of his fellow safeties who can play alongside him or move down into the slot, or even the box. He can do that himself as well, of course.
Then there’s Patrick Peterson, who after a 12-year career of being an outside cornerback is expected to move around a fair amount this year. He has worked a lot in the slot this offseason, but he has even taken some reps at safety. Tre Norwood and Elijah Riley are some other depth contenders in the secondary who can play multiple roles.
Then you have DeMarvin Leal and now even Isaiahh Loudermilk, a pair of young defensive linemen who are getting work as stand-up edge rushers. The Steelers’ off-ball linebackers have long been expected to be able to blitz and even come off the edge.
