The Pittsburgh Steelers, historically known for championship-caliber defenses and toughness, have largely ignored one of the most important positions in all of football in recent years, the cornerback. In the modern-day NFL, offenses line up with three wide receivers on the field 60.6% of the time, forcing the defense to match their speed with three cornerbacks, making the nickel package the de facto “base” defense.
To this point, the philosophy has been to invest heavily in edge players, allowing the pass rush to mask the weakness at CB2, who has played on the right side in recent years (LCB) in the Steelers’ zone-heavy scheme. Edge players will continue to be the priority, hence the forthcoming record-breaking extension for T.J. Watt, but in the meantime, the Steelers executed a blockbuster trade that brought Jalen Ramsey to Pittsburgh and finally addressed the longtime revolving door at CB2.
Recent History at CB2
After the Steelers signed the 34-year-old, 6-time Pro Bowler, Darius Slay, it appeared to be more of the same at CB2 – a bargain bought band-aid at one of the most important positions.
The Steelers had addressed CB2 that way for a decade, with nine different starters in the last ten seasons. The only multi-season holdover was Steven Nelson, who signed as a free agent from Buffalo and started 30 games at RCB between the ’19 & ’20 seasons. Per PFF, he graded 10th and 56th among all corners in those seasons, respectively. Easily the two best seasons from a Steelers’ CB2 in the last decade. With one year left on his contract entering the 2021 season, Nelson was set to be a salary cap casualty and requested his release, which was granted.
Before Nelson, the likes of Coty Sensabaugh, Ross Cockrell, and Artie Burns occupied the CB2 spot, with less than impressive results. In 2015, Antwon Blake started all 16 games opposite longtime Steeler William Gay and ranked dead last in PFF’s rankings with a grade of 32.3, which was the worst PFF had recorded at that point.
Once Steven Nelson was sent packing, Cam Sutton claimed the CB2 spot in ’21, opposite of veteran corner Joe Haden. After the retirement of Haden, Sutton took over as CB1, and Levi Wallace, another former Buffalo Bill, was brought in. Wallace started 9 games, finished the ’22 season with a 62.8 grade, which ranked 101st of 236 eligible corners.
In recent years, the Steelers have opted for veterans on one-year deals. Patrick Peterson was signed in 2023, made 16 starts, and finished 125th of 229 corners with a 60.5 grade. Last season, despite recording five interceptions, Donte Jackson finished with a 50.8 grade, which was 187th of 222 corners.
Finding Stability
It was likely that the Steelers would continue this trend with the signing of Slay, but once Ramsey became available, it may have been an opportunity they just could not pass up. With an uncharacteristically high amount of cap space available, it was seemingly too easy to pull the trigger. The caveat being that they had to give up safety, Minkah Fitzpatrick. Though painful, the loss of their own All-Pro was a necessary one. He would be due a contract extension after the 2026 season, and with just one interception in the last two seasons, the production no longer matched the price tag.
With experienced starters at both outside corner positions (Slay & Porter), it’s likely that Jalen Ramsey will be moved around during his first year in Pittsburgh. Ramsey played 17% of his snaps in the slot last season and has over 1,000 snaps at slot corner during his career. He’s also expressed a desire to play safety to extend his career, a position that was just recently vacated by Minkah Fitzpatrick.
With Ramsey being under contract through the 2028 season and Joey Porter Jr. due for an extension next offseason, it appears the corner position is finally locked up for the foreseeable future in Pittsburgh.
A welcome lack of change in Pittsburgh.
