One of the reasons Cam Sutton cashed in on a three-year, $33 million contract with the Detroit Lions after his first stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers was his versatility. He is capable of playing basically every position in the secondary with an extremely high football IQ. Given the Steelers’ current troubles in the secondary, including three injured starters by the end of the Week 17 game, could it make sense to play Sutton on the outside a bit more?
“It’s always a consideration,” DC Teryl Austin said Monday via a team-provided transcript. “I think he got a couple outside reps last week. He’s always a consideration. He’s a pro’s pro. He can play all positions we have back there. And so, if we need to, we’ll put him out there. I don’t think we want to put him out there full-time because of the value he brings us inside. If he needs to go outside, we can put him out there.”
Sutton played two snaps as a wide corner on Saturday, which increased his total to five this season. But in 2023 he played 1,100 snaps on the outside with the Lions and 1,645 over the previous three seasons with the Steelers before that.
Joey Porter Jr. suffered an injury against the Ravens and his status is unclear for Wednesday and beyond. Donte Jackson was injured the week prior and his status for Wednesday is also unclear. That leaves James Pierre and Cory Trice Jr. as the starters on the outside unless one or both of the others can return. Sutton has more experience than both of them combined.
If DeShon Elliott is able to return, that would provide some relief to the secondary. He has also been able to flex down to slot corner for 124 snaps this season. In a worse-case scenario with Elliott, Jackson, and Porter all out on Wednesday against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, it might make sense to play Cam Sutton outside for 10-15 snaps.
Beanie Bishop Jr. has plenty of experience in the slot at this point to hold that position down for the week if needed, though none of this would obviously be ideal. Sutton was exposed on the outside with the Lions last year. Pro Football Focus charged him with allowing 77 receptions on 113 targets for 1,173 yards and eight touchdowns.
