It took longer than he might’ve thought but Desmond King is finally a Pittsburgh Steeler. And he’s letting the football world know about it. Though his impending signing has been known since Wednesday morning, King fired off a series of Tweets Wednesday evening confirming the news.
He began by tweeting: “DREAMS COME TRUE !!”
Coming out of Iowa, King said the Steelers felt like the best fit. As Dave Bryan wrote about all the way back in 2017, King was asked at his Pro Day whose system and scheme he meshed with best.
“I would say the Pittsburgh Steelers,” King said. “The only reason why I would say that is because they are a heavily-based zone team and their defensive scheme is kind of similar to ours here at Iowa. It’s a tough defense, it’s a defensive team and they have guys that are going to go out 110 percent each and every game and play all out.”
In fairness, the Steelers’ scheme has changed from then to now. Last year, they were one of the most man-heavy defenses, breaking away from their days of Dick LeBeau and Keith Butler’s fire zones. Still, Pittsburgh prides themselves on being a tough and physical group with a relatively simplified scheme that allows players to play fast instead of overthinking and slowing down.
King followed that tweet up with two more.
After spending his first three years with the Los Angeles Chargers, King has bounced around the league. He was traded to the Tennessee Titans midway through 2020 and spent a half-season there before signing with the Houston Texans. He spent the 2021 and 2022 years there before being cut Tuesday. Now, he’s inked a one-year deal with Pittsburgh. Hopefully they can provide more stability for the rest of his career.
King’s inside/outside versatility should give Pittsburgh options to how they want to deploy him. He’s most likely to see time in the nickel on earlier downs. Last year, he picked up ten tackles for a loss and though stats haven’t shown it recently, he can blitz off the edge. In his rookie year, he racked up four sacks and has 8.5 for his career. He simply saw fewer opportunities in the Texans’ scheme.
Somewhat underrated, Pittsburgh’s made several changes to their secondary. CBs Cam Sutton, Ahkello Witherspoon, and Arthur Maulet are gone while SS Terrell Edmunds left to join Philadelphia. In their place, enter Patrick Peterson, Joey Porter Jr., Chandon Sullivan, and Keanu Neal. This group may still carry questions about their upside, but they also offer plenty of flexibility to make them battle-tested for the season. And it’s clear King is excited to finally wear the black and gold.
