The Steelers have a hole at safety after trading Minkah Fitzpatrick, but is Jalen Ramsey their plan to fill it? The team also signed Juan Thornhill this offseason, but not with intentions to start. They have time to figure things out, but figure things out they must. And Ray Fittipaldo isn’t convinced, based on their current roster, they have an easy answer.
“I don’t know if [Juan Thornhill] is a starting-caliber free safety at this point in his career”, the Steelers reporter said on 93.7 The Fan. “I think that’s why there’s a lot of talk about Jalen Ramsey eventually fitting into that role. That’s a big transition. You go from playing one position your entire life to playing another, there’s gonna be some bumps in that road. If that is indeed what’s gonna happen, this training camp and early in the season is gonna be very important”.
While Ramsey hasn’t ever “officially” played safety, the Steelers are likely aware he is open to playing there. Or at least, in the past, he has expressed a willingness to move there later in his career. Thornhill, meanwhile, has many dozens of NFL starts, all at safety, as recently as last year.
But there’s a reason a “starting” safety was available for the Steelers to sign for $3 million. Over two seasons with the Browns, he struggled through injury, among other issues. At one point, he earned the derogatory nickname “Jog” Thornhill, which he took to heart.
Even with declining performance, the Steelers had a true, reliable free safety in Minkah Fitzpatrick. Still 28, he also has every opportunity to return to his All-Pro status. Pittsburgh moves on without, from the outside, a clear plan.
Given what they’re paying everybody, though, the Steelers could employ Thornhill as a nickel safety and just Ramsey as the “base” safety. Last season, the Steelers were only in a “base” defense barely 25 percent of the time. All told, they played under 300 snaps with fewer than five defensive backs on the field.
If this trend continues, the Steelers could see Ramsey as a nickel 75 percent of the time, safety 25 percent. Roughly, of course, give or take a few percentage points. That would also be a lot of snaps for Thornhill, though, and what happens if he is injured? He has missed 12 games over the past two seasons, and the Steelers just torpedoed their safety depth.
“Even if they do view Thornhill as a guy that can start, you probably want to get somebody behind him who could push him or be a pretty good backup”, Fittipaldo said about the Steelers’ potential vision for the safety position. There are some names they could bring in, like Justin Simmons, for example. And they do have cash and cap space they can spend. But at the end of the day, how do you keep Darius Slay, Joey Porter Jr., and Jalen Ramsey on the field?
