The Pittsburgh Steelers’ cornerback depth chart, with Cory Trice Jr. very much in the mix, is—interesting, in a word. Put simply, they don’t exactly have much experience behind their starters, Joey Porter Jr. and Donte Jackson. But the only way for people without experience to gain experience is to play. The Steelers clearly think there is something to Trice, and Brian Batko agrees.
“If the groin is okay from the third preseason game, then [Trice is] a solid top backup at outside cornerback”, Batko told Joe Starkey on 93.7 The Fan this week. While it’s nice to hear, the Steelers had better hope it’s true.
The Steelers only have five true cornerbacks on their 53-man roster, including slot Beanie Bishop Jr. Cory Trice Jr. and Darius Rush are the backups, and both are second-year players with minimal experience. Both have their drawbacks, with Trice’s injury history and Rush on his third team, but they both have talent.
Trice seems to be ahead of Rush, which is impressive considering the road he’s had to walk. He spent most of the offseason rehabbing a torn ACL and fought to be able to participate early in camp. The coaches took their time working him in, and it wasn’t until late that he started seeing more opportunities. By the end, he was starting to look like the guy they hoped for when they took a flyer on him.
A seventh-round pick out of Purdue, Cory Trice Jr. is in his second season after spending his rookie year injured. He tore his ACL on the first day of padded practices and found his way to the Reserve/Injured List. Now he can go from afterthought to one snap away from starting.
At least based on the 53-man roster, their only other option is Darius Rush, whom Trice passed during training camp. They have Anthony Averett on the practice squad, but there’s a reason he is there and not on the roster.
As Batko noted, Cory Trice Jr. did suffer a groin injury. Head coach Mike Tomlin didn’t say that he will play Week 1, but he did seem optimistic. In order to do so, however, he will need to manage the requisite amount of playing time.
Should he suit up Sunday in Atlanta, it would mark Trice’s official NFL debut, yet another milestone in a summer full of them. He had his first padded practice, then his first NFL preseason game, and his first roster spot. Now he is preparing for his first game that counts—and perhaps soon after, his first snaps.
Trice did play 14 snaps on special teams during the preseason, including two games on punt return duty and one game on kick return duty. He also saw some work on the field goal-blocking unit, so there are a few things he can do. It is interesting that he saw time on the return units and not coverage. I suspect that will change once we get into the regular season, assuming he dresses.
