New Steelers CB Jamel Dean is Joey Porter Jr.’s fourth different pairing in as many seasons, but he has the right disposition. With a new coaching staff, we still have much to learn about what the defense will look like. But based on the moves they’ve made so far, we have some clues regarding their plans.
And at least up to this point, Dean isn’t seeing anything he isn’t used to. “I feel like it’s the same, for the most part. The scheme is very similar”, he told reporters last week via the Steelers’ website. “They want us up in the receiver’s face. So I’m like, ‘That’s fine. That’s all I mainly did my whole career.’”
Dean, 29, spent his entire NFL career up to this point with the Buccaneers. While there, he was generally employed in man press coverage. He expects to do the same with the Steelers, which is a reasonable assumption. That’s why you would sign him, after all, as that is his strength, and his background.
“That was just the mentality we had in Auburn”, Jamel Dean said, recalling his college coach. “His mentality was, we’re gonna press you the whole game. Because for the most part, when you play off receivers, that’s just a timing thing at that point. You’ve got to be able to disrupt timing to throw off the trajectory of the ball, the timing of the route”.
Over seven seasons, Jamel Dean has started 77 of 96 games. He has started every game he has played over the past four seasons. He has 11 career interceptions and 61 passes defensed, including 3 and 9, respectively, last season.
Indeed, Dean is arguably coming off the best season of his career. Other than his rookie season, he has never recorded more passes defensed before. He also had one of his best seasons in tackling, showing no signs of age.
Speaking of age, Dean will turn 30 this season in October, perhaps a red flag for Steelers fans. The team has sought older veterans to pair with Porter in recent years, most recently Darius Slay, who just retired. On a three-year contract, Dean represents the strongest commitment they have made during that time.
His play style complements Porter’s and gives the Steelers a pair of press-man cover corners. They haven’t had that in a while, not since Joe Haden and Steven Nelson, for about a season. Jamel Dean is starting to get up there, which he grudgingly admits. But for now, he’s confident that he still has the chops. And he did last year, which is far more important than what he believes.
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