Just under a week ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers made a big move following final roster cuts, adding veteran cornerback Desmond King on a one-year deal after the veteran was cut by the Houston Texans.
At first glance, it’s pretty clear that King should have a sizable role for the Black and Gold at slot corner, a position he’s played 2,782 snaps at in his career. Along with his role in the slot, King is good depth to have on the outside, too, having played 1,317 snaps at outside corner in his career as well.
Yet, in the days leading up to Sunday’s season opener against the San Francisco 49ers at Acrisure Stadium, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin stated to reporters Tuesday during his weekly press conference that he’s still in the getting-to-know phase with King and that there’s no real answer to his role just yet.
“No, not as I stand here right now, man. We just acquired him the other day. We’ve had one kind of bonus practice. We had the infancy of our plan development this week. And so it’s just a lot of layers to that discussion,” Tomlin said regarding King’s role with the Steelers. “Our ability to get to know him, how quickly he learns what it is that we do here and, and the need component. And so we’re excited, obviously, about his acquisition, but, I don’t necessarily have an answer to that as a stand here today.”
That’s not at all surprising from Tomlin in regard to King’s role. The Steelers signed the veteran just six days ago and have practiced just one day since adding him, that practice coming Monday. With the players off Tuesday, King is still in the learning phase of things with the Steelers defensively.
Though he is a veteran with nearly 5,000 career snaps in the NFL, it’s a new defense, new faces around him and new terminology to learn.
It’s going to take some time to get acclimated to the franchise, the way things operate, and the terminology used defensively. He’s attempting to jump on a moving train, as Tomlin likes to say, and it’s a difficult jump considering he wasn’t in training camp with the Steelers.
Eventually — and likely quickly — King will be called on defensively, but it’s not at all a surprise that he doesn’t quite have a set role in Pittsburgh just yet, at least from Tomlin’s perspective.
