After pursuing him throughout the 2023 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers were ultimately able to land veteran cornerback Donte Jackson via trade this offseason.
Now with him in the fold, coaches are excited to have him in the room at the position. That includes defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday following a minicamp practice, Austin stated that Jackson gives the Steelers a “different type of cover guy” and provides the Steelers with more flexibility and versatility at the cornerback position overall.
“First of all, he fits in well. I think he’s a real pro, goes about his business,” Austin said of Jackson, according to video via the Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski on Twitter. “He asks good questions, does the things that a good pro will do, and I like the way he’ll fit in, because he does give us a different type of cover guy than Joey [Porter Jr.] Joey’s gonna be at the line of scrimmage, tall, get his hands on people, where he’s [Jackson] gonna have the ability to play off, and can really run still.
“So I think it gives us a little bit of a nice matchup in terms of coverage, and some flexibility. Because he has played and done some things inside. So I like where he fits that way. And so I think it’s good for us. We like to have pieces, guys that can do multiple things in the secondary and he fits that.”
Steelers DC Teryl Austin on new CB Donte Jackson pic.twitter.com/SaBiTAnPKa
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) June 12, 2024
Jackson is a much different player from Porter, but that is a good thing, especially for Austin. He now has not only a longtime NFL veteran in Jackson to work with, but one who can play zone, off-coverage in man, and more, allowing the Steelers to give defenses different looks.
Having the experience that he does and the skill set that he has is key, too.
Jackson has been a productive cornerback across six NFL seasons. He still believes he’s a complete cornerback, too.
In those six seasons — all with the Carolina Panthers — the former second-round pick has played 4,281 snaps in 80 career games. In those 80 career games, Jackson has 303 tackles, 15. tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, 14 interceptions, 46 passes defensed, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one touchdown.
Last season with Carolina, Jackson started 16 games and finished with 59 tackles, five tackles for loss and five pass breakups. He allowed 45 receptions for 588 yards on 57 targets last season, giving up three touchdowns and a QB rating against of 107.7.
According to Pro Football Focus, Jackson graded out at a 64.3 overall in 2023, including a 66.6 in coverage and a 52.3 against the run.
Though he is projected to play outside opposite Porter, especially with veteran Cameron Sutton signing with the Steelers last week, giving Pittsburgh a clearcut starter in the slot, Austin believes that Jackson can — and will —play inside at times, too, allowing the Steelers to mix things up.
It will be quite interesting to see just what Austin and the defense have in store for Jackson in his role in the Black and Gold. He’s different from what they’ve targeted recently at cornerback in that he isn’t that big, long, physical cornerback. But he sure can run and brings a different dynamic to the Steelers.
