How much better off are the Steelers at safety compared to last year?
Partly their own doing, partly untimely misfortune, the Steelers found themselves in a bad spot at safety last year. After trading Minkah Fitzpatrick, they hoped to get by with a hodgepodge of options like Juan Thornhill. Surprising to nobody, that didn’t exactly work out.
DeShon Elliott’s injuries, including a final season-ender, didn’t help the matter. The last one forced the Steelers to move Jalen Ramsey to safety full-time and also prompted them to trade for Kyle Dugger. Having already had veteran depth safeties like Chuck Clark and Jabrill Peppers, they still felt unprepared.
Instead of giving up one this year, the Steelers added a starting safety in Jaquan Brisker. Already a proven starter, he is a high-upside signing on a glorified one-year prove-it deal. What he has to prove most, though, is that he can stay healthy—not unlike DeShon Elliott.
Having two safeties with health-related availability issues is not ideal, but it’s perhaps the best the Steelers could do in the price range they were willing to dip into. But is their depth any better than last year? Darnell Savage feels very much in the vein of Thornhill, Peppers, and Clark, after all. And it’s hard to trust that Sebastian Castro or Robert Spears-Jennings could fill in, if they even make the team.
On the other hand, if the Steelers’ safety tandem does stay healthy, they could be really good. Pittsburgh clearly missed Elliot’s sure tackling a season ago, and Brisker can bring some versatility and playmaking to the back end of the defense.
Considering the Steelers practically cleaned out their safety room from a year ago, it’s easy to assume that they believe they are now in a better place. Many are sold on the Brisker move in particular, and I believe for good reason. A hometown kid, this year he is auditioning for the potential to finish his career in Pittsburgh. That’s a lot to play for in and of itself. But that alone is not going to make any tackles, intercept any passes, or stuff Derrick Henry in the B gap.
The Steelers have a long road ahead of them under Mike McCarthy, along with his cadre of quarterbacks.With seven consecutive postseason losses and no wins in nearly a decade, they are under fire for their repeated playoff failures. While we have seen many changes, none could dream of topping Mike Tomlin’s resignation.
We’re already deep into the offseason, with free agency and the draft already reshaping rosters. The Steelers, of course, are used to early offseason mode as a team thatloses by the middle of January all the time. Enjoy the ride, even the turbulence, because it’s the only way we know how to travel anymore.
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