While the Steelers like Sebastian Castro, will rookie S Robert Spears-Jennings force them to make a difficult choice? Ideally, every team would like to carry 10 or more defensive backs. Practicalities, however, often dictate fewer, as the Steelers carried nine last year, for example. It’s just one of the reasons teams emphasize versatility, which is especially important in the defensive backfield.
The Steelers signed Castro as a rookie college free agent last year. Playing in the slot at Iowa, he moved full-time to safety in Pittsburgh. Beginning the season on the practice squad, he soon signed with the Buccaneers’ 53-man roster. But once Tampa Bay let him loose, the Steelers nabbed him back off the waiver wire.
He logged nine games in all, including eight here. While Castro didn’t see any time on defense, he did play 72 snaps on special teams, registering two tackles. And the Steelers seemed genuinely enthusiastic about his trajectory, but will he lose out to a numbers game? That’s what Mike DeFabo predicts.
“Safety Sebastian Castro, a UDFA last offseason, was getting a lot of first-team reps in place of Elliott (who wasn’t quite ready for full-team work). However, seventh-round rookie safety Robert Spears-Jennings has looked good, and I think they’ll keep him”, he argued for The Athletic.
But he also added that the Steelers may well continue to look for more safety help. And if they should do that—which he believes they need to—both Sebastian Castro and Robert Spears-Jennings could lose out and wind up on the practice squad unless lost to waivers.
The Steelers have a deep cornerback room at the top, featuring Joey Porter Jr., Jamel Dean, Jalen Ramsey, Asante Samuel Jr., rookie Daylen Everette, and Brandin Echols. The question DeFabo answered actually concerned whether they might drop Samuel or Echols. At safety, they have DeShon Elliott and Jaquan Brisker, but there is room behind them with Sebastian Castro and seventh-round pick Robert Spears-Jennings.
Unlike Castro, Spears-Jennings has the distinguishing characteristic of speed. He ran a sub-4-4 40-yard dash at the Combine, among the fastest players of the event. Castro also doesn’t have the benefit of having been acquired by the Steelers’ current coaching staff. And former Steelers special teams coordinator Danny Smith is gone, too.
Of course, it’s possible that Pittsburgh carries 10 defensive backs and both Castro and Spears-Jennings—or some other safety not yet on the roster—make the team. In theory, at least, they only need a fourth, with Ramsey also serving as a safety. But they would prefer to have somebody they could trust to start and play 40-50 snaps if either Elliott or Brisker were to go down. I don’t know that either Castro or Spears-Jennings would qualify.
Of course, DeFabo didn’t even mention Darnell Savage, a veteran safety the Steelers signed more recently. And he didn’t just forget, because he previously suggested the Steelers should keep looking for a better safety to back up Elliot and Brisker.
Recommended for you