The Pittsburgh Steelers dealt WR Diontae Johnson opposite George Pickens to acquire CB Donte Jackson, hoping to solidify their secondary. Through the first week of training camp, the signs are pointing in that direction. While he loses the occasional rep, that comes with the territory, and he is making his share of plays, too.
Include Pickens in the group of those who are impressed by what they have seen so far from Jackson. He talked about his battles with the experienced veteran recently, but on Thursday, he praised the cornerbacks as a whole. Joey Porter Jr. leads the way in that group, but he sees talent up and down based on his battles with them, even going back to OTAs.
“They’re super, super good”, George Pickens said of the cornerbacks via Steelers Training Camp Wrap-Up. “We got JP [Joey Porter Jr.], of course. Picked up a new guy, Donte Jackson—super good, fast, twitchy DB. We still got a lot of older guys that we had from injury last year. [Cory] Trice [Jr.]. Cam Sutton, got him back. He used to play for the Steelers. … We got a few vets and a [bunch of] prolific young guys”.
The Steelers struggled to replenish their secondary after losing Mike Hilton in 2021 and then Cameron Sutton in 2023. After Joe Haden, they have had a revolving door before hitting on Porter in the draft. They thought they had something in Ahkello Witherspoon, but he flamed out, and Levi Wallace proved unreliable, as well. The biggest disappointment was Patrick Peterson, who didn’t look like he could run as an outside guy anymore. Porter was the only cornerback in training camp who could give George Pickens a run for his money last year.
In contrast, Donte Jackson came into training camp eager to get a piece of Pickens after hearing about last year. Pickens vs. Porter was one of the central highlights of the Steelers’ training camp last year, but they needed somebody else because the teams they’re playing will.
Pickens thinks they have that guy now in Jackson, and let’s hope he’s right. As for Sutton, even just one year removed from free agency, he is in another stage of his career. He will also kick off the season with an eight-game suspension, so there’s that.
The rest of the group largely consists of the “prolific young guys”, as Pickens referenced. Cory Trice Jr. is starting to work his way into more reps, and Darius Rush has had his moments. Anthony Averett is one of the more experienced cornerbacks on the roster as a failsafe. In terms of the slot, Beanie Bishop Jr. and Grayland Arnold offer something to watch for.
Of course, you should look good in training camp, but we’re only a couple of days into padded practices. We don’t even know what guys like Donte Jackson and Beanie Bishop Jr. are going to look like in the preseason. Still, if George Pickens believes they can hang with him, that’s about as good an endorsement as we have right now.
