The Pittsburgh Steelers made significant upgrades to the cornerback room this offseason, signing veteran Jamel Dean to a big deal in free agency, then selecting Georgia’s Daylen Everette in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
On top of that, the Steelers ensured depth would be strong this season by re-signing Asante Samuel Jr. before the start of free agency. The Steelers are now deep and talented at cornerback, at least on paper, giving new secondary coaches Jason Simmons and Joe Whitt Jr. plenty of options.
Dean and Joey Porter Jr. are locked in as the starters, but there’s a big discussion regarding who the top backup is, especially after Everette had a strong showing in OTAs and minicamp.
Today, Ross McCorkle and I debate who the first cornerback off the bench will be this season.
Let us know who made the better argument and what side of the debate you come in on in the comments below.
WILL ASANTE SAMUEL JR. OR DAYLEN EVERETTE BE THE FIRST CB OFF THE BENCH FOR THE STEELERS?
JOSH CARNEY — Asante Samuel Jr.
The Steelers made it a priority to re-sign Samuel before the start of free agency, locking him into a one-year deal to bring him back to the Steel City. He has the experience from last season with the Steelers, playing 249 snaps defensively. He had one interception, but he did allow two touchdowns and a 70% completion percentage when in coverage, according to Pro Football Focus.
Still, he was coming back from spinal fusion surgery and was getting his legs underneath him in game action. Now with a full offseason of football activities, he should be able to get back to the level of play he showed during his time with the Los Angeles Chargers.
At one point, Samuel was an up-and-coming young cornerback. But the injury seemingly took that away from him. The belief in Pittsburgh is that he can reach that level again and will provide good depth for Pittsburgh moving forward, especially at a position that deals with major injuries across the NFL each season.
He’s not going to offer much in the slot, but he’s a good option to have on the outside behind Porter and Dean this season. It takes pressure off Everette as he continues to make his transition to the NFL.
Samuel is a lock for the roster and should be a lock for the top CB off the bench.
ROSS MCCORKLE — Daylen Everette
Rookies often have a hard time earning snaps on game day, but Everette looked well ahead of schedule at OTAs. It’s a good sign that Pittsburgh gave him the toughest matchup against DK Metcalf at practice, and he more than held his own.
It wasn’t perfect by any means, but his combination of size and speed can be put to use. He’s also well prepared from playing at Georgia in college football’s most competitive conference.
The knock on Samuel has always been his tackling ability. It was a little better in Pittsburgh last year, but history shows a player that is capable of missing one out of every five tackle attempts.
Everette’s missed tackle rate in college was roughly half of Samuel’s. Coaches like fundamentals, and tackling is as fundamental as it gets.
Samuel isn’t slow, but Everette is fast. That speed is an asset that doesn’t otherwise exist in Pittsburgh’s secondary at the moment.
Everette has also talked about learning to play in the slot. That alone would give him a leg up on Samuel, who doesn’t play inside at all.
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