Steelers have new version of secondary
With some fresh faces and some familiar ones in new places, the Steelers unveiled the latest version of their secondary Tuesday on the first day of organized team activities.
Is this Steelers secondary 5.0? 6.0? Whatever the version, it is the latest reboot of a unit that has struggled in recent years, and new defensive backs coach Tom Bradley is hoping the personnel changes — along with a few tweaks of his own — will produce better results than previous units that had a hard time keeping the lid on opposing offenses.
Former Green Bay Packers safety Morgan Burnett was signed in March to replace Mike Mitchell, who was released after starting at free safety the past four seasons. Burnett will team with third-year player Sean Davis to form a new safety tandem.
For now, there is not a designated free and strong safety, Davis said. That is expected to change in time, but for learning purposes, they each played their side of the field Tuesday with each player getting reps at the deep center fielder based on the offensive formation.
“We’re versatile,” Davis said. “There really is no designated free and strong as of now as far as I know. We played left and right today so we played free and strong. He can do both and I can do both.”
The starting cornerbacks are the same with Artie Burns and Joe Haden working on the outside and Mike Hilton working in the slot. Davis said the Steelers did not unveil their dime defense with six defensive backs so rookie first-round pick Terrell Edmunds worked with the secondteam defense at the safety spot where Burnett was playing.
Eventually, the expectation will be for Edmunds to slot into the defense as the fifth or sixth defensive back, replacing William Gay, who also was released.
“We’ve been working hard the past couple of weeks trying to build that chemistry,” Davis said. “Of course we were a little rusty today, but there are a lot of new faces.”
Bradley has changed a few things in the playbook as he tries to tighten up a unit that has been leaky in recent years.
The Steelers allowed only 201 passing yards per game (fifth in the NFL) in 2017, but they were susceptible to giving up big plays than almost any other team in the league. They allowed 13 passing plays of 40 yards or more. Only Houston and Kansas City gave up more.
Many of those big plays came at crucial times, including the 45-42 loss to Jacksonville in the playoffs. The Jaguars had a 45-yard passing play early in the fourth quarter that set up a touchdown that put them ahead by 14 points. On their next drive, they completed a 40yard screen pass that set up another touchdown.
That wasn’t the only time the pass defense fell short at a critical juncture. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady pickedapart the secondary in the fourth quarter of their comeback win at Heinz Field, a game that decided the No. 1 seedin the AFC playoffs.
“We definitely feel like we have a lot of growing to do,” Haden said. “We don’t want to give up 45 points in the playoffs. . . .
“Right now, we’re mainly paying a lot more attention to details, doing a lot of rotating, just making sure to disguise coverages. As a secondary we are keeping the ball in front of us and making sure we always communicate and never leave anybody running scot-free.”
Veteran players are not always open to change, but Haden and Davis seem to understand that Bradley is going to put his stamp on the secondary. They expect more on-field learning and teaching than previous seasons when Carnell Lake was the secondary coach.
“We’re changing up a couple of calls, a couple of terminologies so that coach and everyone can get on the same page with it,” Haden said. “We’re trying to get it together. We don’t have it set in stone.
“I don’t think it will take too long. People were getting it. We had a couple of questions. What was a little gray for us, coach broke it down.”
Haden said any confusion should take only a few weeks to work out. The expectation is for everyone to be on the same page when the team reports for training camp in late July.
• NOTE — The Steelers signed third-round pick Chukwuma Okorafor to a four-year deal, the team announced. The offensive lineman was the 92nd overall pick.