Player: CB Brandin Echols
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: With the Steelers’ moves this year, CB Brandin Echols is clearly looking at a demotion for this upcoming season. Having spent a good portion of last year as the primary slot defender, his focus will now be on special teams. At least, that’s how it appears to be shaping up, based on the wealth of defensive backs they’ve brought in.
Between Jamel Dean, Jaquan Brisker, and Darnell Savage, Brandin Echols is looking like the odd man out. Not in terms of a roster spot, perhaps, but certainly regarding defensive playing time. While the Steelers let James Pierre go in free agency, they also retained Asante Samuel Jr. At this point, they have depth to play a myriad of packages with varying personnel.
At cornerback, the Steelers project to start Joey Porter Jr. and Jamel Dean. DeShon Elliott returns at safety, and Jalen Ramsey and Jaquan Brisker are there as well. Ramsey would likely be the primary slot defender whenever they are in nickel or dime. And even when they are in dime, they have Asante Samuel Jr. or Darnell Savage. I’m guessing either of them would play ahead of Brandin Echols, at least on paper.
That’s not to say that he doesn’t have value, even defensively. Last season, for example, he played 522 defensive snaps. He delivered 3 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, and 6 passes defensed. They may not have gotten consistently good play out of him, but he was more than serviceable.
At this rate, though, Echols might be two injuries, at a minimum, away from seeing the field. That’s a good problem for the Steelers to have, as it means they’ve improved their depth. And he may have an even bigger role on special teams, having played 111 snaps there.
With the 2025 season behind us and the new league year underway, we still have stock to take. Already promisinga year of change, they are shaking things up. That is unavoidable, of course, when you gut the coaching staff. Mike Tomlin’s resignation will fundamentally change this football team, including the playoffs on the roster.
After a long season, we have finally seen that this Steelers team is playoff-bound. But they also showed that their progress was actually minimal,since they made it no further. Two years in a row, with two different quarterbacks, they went 10-7 and lost in the Wild Card Round. The only differences are they ended the season on a higher note and won the division. But it didn’t help.
Recommended for you