The Pittsburgh Steelers reportedly signed DeShon Elliott to a two-year deal, adding some talent to the safety room. The Steelers started seven different safeties in 2023 with injuries to Minkah Fitzpatrick, Keanu Neal, Elijah Riley, Trenton Thompson, and a suspension to Damontae Kazee. They had to turn to Eric Rowe, added late in the season to the practice squad, and Patrick Peterson, who typically plays corner.
Elliott was a sixth-round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2018. He played four seasons there before spending one year with the Detroit Lions and one year with the Miami Dolphins. The majority of his NFL snaps have been at free safety, but over the last couple seasons he has moved around more, logging snaps as a box safety as well as in the slot.
With Fitzpatrick in Pittsburgh, Elliott will likely be playing more strong safety. To me, that is where his skill set fits the best.
I watched every snap of his from three games in the 2023 season (Bills, Ravens, and Broncos) to get a better look at the type of player the Steelers are getting.
The first thing that stuck out was his ability against the run. In the first play of this clip, he did a great job keeping his eyes in the backfield, mirroring the ball carrier’s movements, and scraping across the line to make the tackle. As with the rest of his tape, he also does a nice job wrapping up and is a sure tackler.
In the second play of the clip, he fills the hole as a linebacker would and does a great job getting low to help absorb impact. He is No. 21 in these clips.
He is also good at taking on blockers, whether that be using his arms to stack and shed or slipping under blocks to avoid them altogether. In the first play of this clip, he dipped under the block to beat the screen and got just enough of RB Justice Hill to trip him up. On the second play of the clip, he used his length and power to take on the block and make the tackle.
While he is generally a good tackler, he does have the tendency to let the contact come to him, rather than deliver the hit himself. In the play below, he did just that and didn’t have the power to stop RB Melvin Gordon III, who fought his way through contact for a touchdown.
One reason why I think he fits best at strong safety is his lack of long speed paired with questionable angles he sometimes takes. He ran a 4.58-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. He can get into trouble with his angles as a result if he takes a too aggressive one.
In coverage, he shows good mental processing and does a great job staying in position and anticipating routes. On this play, he drove down to cover the curl and then seamlessly turned and ran with TE Isaiah Likely up the sideline. At the very end of the route, Likely found some separation, but it was already five seconds into the play.
Again with the anticipation, Elliott did a nice job covering the goal line and started his break inside before the tight end had fully broken his feet down. This put him in the perfect position to break up the pass where he showed good technique punching at the ball.
He had one interception in the games I watched. The ball was thrown right to him, but he made the play. The Steelers had a number of dropped interceptions in 2023, so it is nice to see him high point the ball in the end zone and secure the turnover.
Sometimes his anticipation of routes can get him into trouble. On this play, he opened his hips too early, anticipating WR Zay Flowers to continue pushing up the field. Flowers found a ton of separation by breaking toward the sideline. Though, Elliott did a nice job closing back in on him to tackle the catch and limit YAC.
Elliott should be another nice chess piece to move around the Steelers’ secondary. Pairing him with Fitzpatrick and Kazee gives them a well-rounded group that can flex different positions to exploit different matchups. Though he has played the majority of his NFL snaps at free safety, he should be able to fill the role of box safety with the added benefit of having the experience to play deep if they need him there.
He plays hard, is a sure tackler, and has good anticipation. For the relatively small price tag of $6 million over two years, Elliott should make a nice addition to the group.
