When the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted CBs Joey Porter Jr. and Cory Trice Jr. it was clear there is a new type of cornerback they are looking after, one that can press at the line of scrimmage. The Steelers run a lot of man coverage, so it makes sense that they would look at corners who can press and knock receivers off their routes, but defensive coordinator Teryl Austin also mentioned that the quality of quarterbacks in the AFC North also plays a role in this philosophy.
“If you can disrupt receivers and if you can get ’em stopped before they get going, it helps you,” Austin said in an interview with Mike Prisuta which was posted to iHeartRadio Pittsburgh’s YouTube channel. “And you mentioned the quarterbacks in our division, whatever extra we can give our rush time to get home, then that’s gonna help.”
The AFC North is filled with quarterbacks with extremely high ceilings. Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, and Deshaun Watson have all shown the ability to be a top-five quarterback in the NFL, and if Pittsburgh is going to want to compete for titles they are going to need to knock those quarterbacks off.
We don’t know Steelers QB Kenny Pickett’s ceiling but we do know the ceiling rest of the AFC North’s quarterbacks. All three are capable of putting up 30-plus points a game with their arm. The Steelers right now can’t win games like that, they only scored 30-plus once last year, so they need to prevent teams from scoring that much.
Pittsburgh has a great pass rush, but if receivers are running wide-open, that isn’t going to matter as all three of those quarterbacks are more than capable of hitting open receivers. Burrow in particular is elite at going through his progressions quickly, so press coverage making routes get going just a tick slower could be the difference between a big gain or a T.J. Watt sack.
Pass rush and pass coverage go hand in hand and of both are in sync the Steelers could have a top-five defense in the NFL. Obviously, the strength is the pass rush, but if the cornerbacks can give Watt and Alex Highsmith just one or two more seconds on a play it could change the outcomes of games. While it seems like such a little thing, having cornerbacks who can successfully bump wide receivers off their routes legitimately can change the outcome of a play, and a game.
Going forward, with the type of cornerback the Steelers want for the AFC North, expect the team to target long, press-capable cornerbacks. With Trice on IR with an injury, we most likely won’t see him this season barring something miraculous, but Porter we should. With Porter in the game, he will likely be pressing somewhat often and it will be interesting to go look at the film and see how it affects the play.
While we aren’t even close to the next free agency period or the 2024 NFL Draft, if cornerback is something the Steelers will be looking for then, we can likely expect them to search for press corners like Porter and Trice. It is always fun to be able to find trends surrounding the Steelers, and a new one looks like it is the type of cornerback the Steelers will be targeting under general manager Omar Khan.
