Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: DB Patrick Peterson
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: After making his first start at safety, Patrick Peterson proved his versatility, and perhaps bought a second life as he ages in football years. The highly experienced defensive back handled himself well playing on the back end in his first extended opportunity there, leaving open the possibility that it could be a more permanent option.
Anybody who has paid attention this offseason recognizes that Saturday’s decision to start Patrick Peterson at safety is not surprising. After all, the Steelers were already down Minkah Fitzpatrick, Damontae Kazee, Keanu Neal, and Trenton Thompson. They didn’t have many other options.
But more to the point, the Steelers have talked about their interest in Peterson’s potential versatility from the moment they signed him. Indeed, he talked about his interest in signing with the Steelers, even before he officially did, in part because they presented him with the opportunity to expand his game.
So when the chance arose, he embraced it, and he proved himself worthy of the task. Not that I think many people were particularly surprised. As a cornerback, especially as he grew into the game, his skill set and knowledge of the game suited the role.
As he himself pointed out, the real last hurdle for him if he were to make a full-time transition to safety would be the physical element. Could he hold up in the box if needed? How would he handle those open-field tackles when he’s the last line of defense?
He wasn’t really put in those spots too much last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, but he handled whatever was thrown at him. And we can only judge his game based on what he was put in the position to defend. We can save a deeper evaluation for a later date.
And hopefully he won’t have to start at safety again, at least on a full-time basis. It looks as though the Steelers could be getting Thompson back, and they got Eric Rowe into the mix last week. Then again, the coaches might still decide to start Peterson at safety given the options.
But his value is really in his versatility, in that he could be asked to line up anywhere in the secondary before the snap, and he could be in another spot after it. Line up on the outside and then drop into a Cover 2 shell. Or running up from safety to cover the slot, or even to blitz.
