The Pittsburgh Steelers made a splash earlier in the week while trying to shore up the cornerback position, landing veteran Asante Samuel Jr. on the practice squad.
The move comes after Pittsburgh was rather quiet at the trade deadline, and just a few weeks after Samuel was cleared by doctors to resume football activities after spinal fusion surgery in April. Ironically, that surgery was performed by the Steelers’ team neurosurgeon, Dr. David Okonkwo, so the Steelers knew the most about Samuel.
They’re hoping to get a cornerback who can help clean up some of the coverage issues the team has had this season. But with his addition comes one real concern within Samuel’s game, and that’s tackling.
Across three-plus seasons in the NFL, Samuel has missed 35 tackles in his career. He has a missed tackles rate of 16.7%, which is a bit concerning. Last season in just four games, Samuel missed four tackles. In his last full season in 2023, Samuel missed 14 tackles. He also missed 11 tackles in his rookie season.
With news of the neck/shoulder injury leading to surgery, some have chalked up his tackling issues to the injury, one he’s played with throughout his NFL career.
Samuel is not doing that, though.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Samuel said when asked if the injury affected his tackling, according to video via Steelers.com. “There’s no excuse when you’re on the field. A lot of people going through a lot of things, so I wouldn’t say that.”
It’s a good answer from Samuel, not making any excuses regarding his shortcomings in the tackling department. The injury might ultimately be a reason why he’s struggled to tackle consistently in the NFL, but if the player isn’t using it, then neither can fans nor coaches.
The fact remains that Samuel really struggles as a tackler. Having had neck surgery, he might be even more hesitant to put his face in there and play with some physicality, something that doesn’t exactly show up in his game. He’s a good cover corner and that seems to be all that many care about, overlooking the tackling issues. But tackling is already a significant issue for the Steelers this season, and it’s not as if Samuel is going to help fix that.
The Steelers have missed a combined 60 tackles in the past five games, so they’ve really been struggling there. While Samuel might be an upgrade in coverage for the Black and Gold, don’t expect him to be all that good as a tackler, even with a long-term injury corrected by surgery.
He’s not going to make excuses for it, though.
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