The Pittsburgh Steelers shook up their secondary in a major way this week, sending Minkah Fitzpatrick packing and acquiring Jalen Ramsey in the process. With that move, things are going to look much different, but did the Steelers’ secondary improve at all? Former NFL defensive back Logan Ryan, now an analyst with CBS Sports, thinks Pittsburgh has a stellar group.
“This is a tough spot, there’s a lot of teams that could have come at five here… Pittsburgh has a lot of potential,” Ryan said on CBS Sports HQ on Wednesday. “And it’s scary what they can do. Obviously you add Jalen Ramsey in, you bring in Darius Slay…And then you have Joey Porter Jr. and the corner spot…When you have three good corners like this, Jalen Ramsey has played the nickel, he’ll definitely play on the inside, and maybe slide him at safety in some sets…They have Juan Thornhill, who’s been a good free safety in this league, with DeShon Elliott coming off a good year. They are scary, on paper, but these guys have not played together.”
Ryan is high on the potential the Steelers’ secondary has. Yet, he worries about their chemistry, which seems to be the reason he left them out of the top-four. With a stalwart in Fitzpatrick now gone, and a few new faces in the group, it makes sense. Two of Pittsburgh’s top three corners, an excellent group in itself, are going into their first seasons in Pittsburgh.
However, Darius Slay and Joey Porter Jr. have had both OTAs and minicamp to start to get a feel for each other. Pittsburgh is hoping Slay can use his experience to help Porter along, which seems to be what’s happening so far. And while Ramsey is a new name in the mix, he brings versatility as Ryan alludes to. Ramsey has experience as both an outside and nickel corner. That makes it much easier for Pittsburgh to have all three of those corners on the field at the same time.
Safety is where things are more complicated. It’s hard to hide the drop that may come with Pittsburgh losing Fitzpatrick. However, DeShon Elliott is coming off a tremendous year, and Juan Thornhill has had success in his career, although his recent stint with the Cleveland Browns was rough.
There’s a good chance Ramsey sees some reps at safety. He still has the quickness and burst to succeed at corner. But with him over the age of 30, how much longer will that last? Transitioning to safety is something many cornerbacks try to do as they age in an effort to extend their career. If Ramsey can succeed in that transition in 2025, it will do wonders for the Steelers’ secondary.
Ryan isn’t wrong that this unit hasn’t played together much. Slay, Ramsey and Thornhill are all new faces. Losing a core player in Fitzpatrick will likely have it’s drawbacks as well. That said, if they can develop that chemistry quickly, they might end up even better than the fifth-place ranking Ryan handed them.
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