The Pittsburgh Steelers acquired CB Desmond King II after final roster cuts, but King hasn’t had a ton of time to get acclimated to their system. As a result, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beat writer Ray Fittipaldo doesn’t think King will play on Sunday, based off answers from Teryl Austin and Mike Tomlin in their respective press conferences this week.
“You read between the lines, he’s not gonna play. I’d be shocked if he gets a helmet. So you’re gonna see [Chandon] Sullivan and [Elijah] Riley out there,” Fittipaldo told the PM Team on 93.7 The Fan.
Yesterday, Austin said he “couldn’t say for sure” if King would be ready this week. On Tuesday, Tomlin said the Steelers were excited about King but still unsure about his role. While neither said he would be ruled out, Fittipaldo doesn’t think their answers indicate that he’ll be ready by Sunday.
While King isn’t definitively ruled out and has been practicing with the team, he hasn’t had a lot of work in practice. It would make sense if the Steelers don’t think he’s up to speed enough to play a role against San Francisco on Sunday. They clearly like Sullivan and Riley, enough to keep them on the 53-man roster, and the workload between the two of them will be interesting.
Sullivan is the more experienced corner, with five years under his belt, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. CB Patrick Peterson played with him in Minnesota, and thinks he’s going to be a nice asset for Pittsburgh in 2023. Both Sullivan and Riley picked a pass off this preseason, and Riley also offers some versatility as a potential safety option.
They might not be the most exciting options, but Sullivan and Riley were solid in the preseason and should be able to hold the fort down while King gets up to speed. Even when King plays — and there is still a chance he might on Sunday — he can also play outside as well as inside.
In 2022 with the Houston Texans, King played 505 snaps outside and 334 snaps in the slot, so he has the ability to do both. Sullivan and/or Riley could look to stake their claim on holding down the slot job on a more permanent basis with a good performance on Sunday.
The slot corner position looks like it could be Pittsburgh’s weak spot on Sunday, so it’s going to be worth watching Sullivan and Riley closely. If they’re able to meet the task, then the Steelers could use King in a more versatile role throughout the season. Obviously, one game isn’t going to decide their roles for the entire year, but their performance is going to be important.
Even if King does play, his role likely won’t be much, so there’s a lot riding on both Sullivan and Riley. If they can perform similarly to the way they did in the preseason, the Steelers hopefully won’t have much to worry about.
