James Pierre played lights out in his starting role against the Cincinnati Bengals a week ago. Still, Mike Tomlin told the media on Tuesday that Darius Slay would return to his previous role once he cleared the concussion protocol. The snap count data from today’s loss to the Chicago Bears says otherwise.
The Steelers leaned heavily into Pierre with 64 snaps compared to Slay’s 20. Here is the full breakdown for CB snaps, via Pro Football Focus.
– James Pierre: 64
– Joey Porter Jr.: 44
– Brandin Echols: 35
– Darius Slay: 20
Pierre was out there for the first drive and played nearly every snap of the game. Porter exited with an injury multiple times, and that’s where most of Slay’s snaps came from.
The early analysis of their play by Pro Football Focus wasn’t favorable for Pierre. According to their first-watch live grading, Pierre earned a 46.0 defensive grade. This includes a 27.3 tackling grade with two missed tackles. Slay, meanwhile, was given a 71.2 defensive grade. Those grades are subject to change, but this was an interesting discrepancy between the two corners.
There’s something to be said about a 34-year-old cornerback playing his best football off the bench in a short spurt rather than playing 80 percent of the snaps. Perhaps the Steelers can strike a balance to get the best out of both players down the stretch of the season.
While Tomlin said Slay would play, he also acknowledged that Pierre had earned a role for himself on defense. Even if Slay is still the listed starter, today’s division of labor clearly showed what they think of the CB room.
One game isn’t a large enough sample size to confirm how they will move forward. They could deploy them in different ways each week, depending on the matchup with opposing wide receivers. Don’t expect them to update the depth chart either way. They barely make moves on the official depth chart other than shuffling the back of the roster for injuries and new signings.
The whole conversation may be null and void if Porter is unable to return for next week’s game. He suffered a hip flexor injury and did not return late in the game.
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