A busy Thursday at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis continues for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they have had a number of formal meetings with some of the top cornerbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Iowa’s Cooper DeJean has met formally with the Steelers at the Combine, and Alabama’s Terrion Arnold — arguably the best cornerback in the draft class — also had a formal meeting with the Steelers and head coach Mike Tomlin.
Speaking with reporters Thursday morning in Indianapolis, Arnold stated he had a formal meeting with the Steelers on Wednesday and that he really enjoyed meeting with Tomlin, whom he called a “player-first coach.”
“Mike Tomlin, he actually coached our former defensive back[s] coach Travaris Robinson,” Arnold said. “So with that being said, I mean he’s one of those guys. He does whatever is in the best interest for his player. He’s a player-first coach”
Tomlin coached Robinson with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2003 season, the season after Tampa Bay won the Super Bowl.
Robinson then embarked on a coaching career a few years later and has carried some of Tomlin’s principles with him, which Arnold experienced firsthand.
There are plenty of Pittsburgh connections for Arnold outside of the Robinson-Tomlin one, including one connection with Minkah Fitzpatrick, a player whom Arnold called “the GOAT” on Thursday.
“Going to Alabama with me playing the STAR, I used to watch Minkah’s tape all the time,” Arnold said. “Then Coach [Nick] Saban, we had a thing called cut-ups, so when we watched the cut-ups, Minkah was on every single one of ’em.”
Fitzpatrick is arguably one of the greatest players in Alabama history, so learning from watching him went a long way for Arnold, who burst onto the scene as a dominant force in 2023.
Arnold made a huge leap from 2022 to 2023 for Alabama. During the 2022 season, Arnold allowed a passer rating of 82.5 in nine games, giving up 28 receptions for 383 yards and two touchdowns. He was even better in 2023, Saban’s final season in Tuscaloosa.
Arnold allowed 41 receptions for 441 yards and two touchdowns, but he recorded five interceptions and allowed an average depth of target of just 10.3 yards per target as a lockdown cornerback.
The 6-foot, 196-pound Arnold has good size and is a great athlete for the position and profiles as a great fit opposite young cornerback Joey Porter Jr. long-term for the Steelers. However, as arguably the best cornerback on the board, it seems unlikely Arnold will make it all the way to No. 20 overall when the Steelers are on the clock in the 2024 NFL Draft.
