During the 2023 NFL season, the Pittsburgh Steelers ran dangerously thin at the safety position toward the end of the season. Minkah Fitzpatrick, Damontae Kazee, Trenton Thompson, Keanu Neal, and Elijah Riley were all off the field for various reasons. The Steelers needed to add to the position, and fortunately for them, countless safeties flooded the market in free agency this year. They ended up adding former Baltimore Raven and Miami Dolphin DeShon Elliott.
Omar Khan recently spoke to Rob King in one-on-one interview posted on the Steelers’ YouTube page and discussed Elliott’s fit with the team.
“He’s a little bit of a throwback strong safety,” Khan said. “Ten years ago, we’d probably be talking about him a little differently than where the game is today, but he fits our defense perfectly, I think.”
Elliott has played the majority of his NFL snaps at free safety, but his skill set lends itself to playing strong safety up closer to the line of scrimmage. He is physical and more than capable as a tackler to help against the run. With Fitzpatrick at free safety, Elliott won’t need to play center field, though he has experience doing so.
The AFC North got a lot more physical this offseason with the addition of RB Derrick Henry to the Baltimore Ravens. An already physical rivalry is set to turn up a notch, and Elliott is well-suited and experienced with that type of physical play.
“You guys have seen the clips of him tackling the new running back in Baltimore that we’re gonna be facing a couple times a year,” Khan said. “He’s an awesome player, but I just think he’s a good fit. He is gonna fit well into our defense.”
The one specific highlight that Khan is referring to is Elliott meeting Henry head-on out in the open field where Elliott got the better of him. Here is a clip of the play.
To be fair, Henry was already kind of losing his footing and falling to his knees when Elliott tackled him, but he still stopped him in his tracks despite giving up almost 40 pounds. Tackling Henry one-on-one in space is no easy task.
In the two games that the teams are scheduled to play against each other, we should get to see some more collisions between these two physical players.
For a film room breakdown of everything Elliott has to offer to the team, check out my report on the site from a couple weeks ago.
