At its core, the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 new defensive brain trust leans toward cerebral schematics in devising the unit.<\/p>\n
The coordinator, Patrick Graham, is a Yale alumnus, after all. Graham refers to defensive pass game coordinator Jason Simmons as \u201cone of the smartest men \u2014 on the field (and) off the field \u2014 that I know.\u201d Graham has a reputation for deploying deception with myriad formations and personnel groupings.<\/p>\n
In short, the goal is to out-think the opposing offense.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t let that fool you, though. All that fancy gameplanning with disguised coverages and exotic blitz packages are no substitute for what the Steelers have hung their proverbial hat on for generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to play hard-nosed, physical football,\u201d Graham said during his first public comments as Steelers defensive coordinator in the spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to have an intimidating play style.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Steelers new coaching staff believes it has the personnel on defense to thread that needle. There\u2019s great size on the defensive line and in the secondary in addition to plenty of high-end experience and football IQ. <\/p>\n
New head coach Mike McCarthy is upfront that his background is in offense and that his primary day-to-day job responsibilities will be on that side of the ball. But he also repeatedly has remarked he\u2019s long been a fan of the 3-4 defense the Steelers began to popularize 31\u20442 decades ago after they hired Bill Cowher as coach and Cowher made Dom Capers his defensive coordinator.<\/p>\n
McCarthy was such a fan that he entrusted Capers to run his defenses with the Green Bay Packers for nine seasons, and he tried in vain early this spring to lure Capers back to Pittsburgh for a role on his staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot here in place here,\u201d McCarthy said of taking the Steelers\u2019 job of the defense. \u201cI mean, the defensive system has been here since 1992. It came here with Cowher and Dom Capers. I\u2019ve always been a fan of it and always felt it was the toughest one to compete against as an offensive coach. That\u2019s part of the reason why I went to it in Green Bay. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019ve got something that works the way it\u2019s worked here for so long, I think you should try to do everything you can to build off of that, if possible.\u201d <\/p>\n
Here is a unit-by-unit look at where the Steelers\u2019 defense stands as it embarks on the first season of the McCarthy era:<\/p>\n
Defensive tackles<\/p>\n
The average listed height and weight of the 12 defensive linemen on the Steelers camp roster is 6-foot-1\u20442, 304 pounds. The six expected to get the majority of the playing time this season check in with an average of 6-5, 310.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the biggest defensive line I\u2019ve ever coached,\u201d said McCarthy, who\u2019s entering his 19th season as an NFL head coach. \u201cI think they look exactly how you\u2019re supposed to look.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron Heyward earned All-Pro honors (second team) for the sixth time last season at age 36. Derrick Harmon quickly showed he was worthy of the first-round pick used to acquire him last year, slotting in with Heyward and Keeanu Benton as the most-used defensive tackles.<\/p>\n
Coaches have hinted at deploying Benton more often this season in pass rush situations and less while lined up over the center. The addition of veteran Sebastian Joseph-Day could help facilitate that.<\/p>\n
Outside linebackers<\/p>\n
Outside linebackers account for three of the Steelers\u2019 five biggest (as defined by overall value) contracts. A $100 million deal was signed last month by a purported backup in Nick Herbig. That signals Herbig will move even more into a co-starter role with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, with second-year Jack Sawyer a player most any team would love to have as its No. 4 edge rusher.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a premier position in the National Football League,\u201d McCarthy said of edge defenders, \u201cand we think we\u2019re definitely one of the premier groups.\u201d <\/p>\n
Graham surely views dividing the labor between those four as a good problem to have. Watt, in particular, said in the past he was skeptical of lining up at different spots along the defense but is now embracing the idea under Graham.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose outside linebackers, you have multiple guys that can make plays,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cThey have the ability to rush. They have the ability to drop. That allows you to be multiple, as \u2018PG\u2019 will be as the new coordinator.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside linebackers<\/p>\n
What the Steelers view as a good complement to their massive D-tackles corps is an off-ball linebacker group that has its strength in speed. Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson each have been timed in the 40-yard dash at less than 4.5 seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we look for in the (inside linebacker) profile is the willingness to come downhill,\u201d Graham said. \u201cCan they get their pads underneath people? Can they get to their hands?<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they can do that, we\u2019ll be in good shape. We\u2019ll be fine. What we have here, I\u2019m really excited about our linebacker corps. You\u2019ve got a lot of athleticism and a lot of speed, a lot of willingness to get downhill and take on blockers, and they can get the ball carrier down.\u201d<\/p>\n
To supplement Queen and Wilson, veteran Cole Holcomb was brought back after he showed he recovered from a serious knee injury. Malik Harrison remains on the roster as a bulkier run-stuffer, but his salary-cap hit is such that he had better have a strong camp and preseason, or he might not make the roster.<\/p>\n
Cornerbacks<\/p>\n
Four of the six cornerbacks projected to make the season-opening active roster stand at least 6-1 with listed weights ranging from 193 to 211 pounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re talking about (playing in) a division where teams run the ball and have big receivers,\u201d Graham said, \u201cso (having plus-sized corners) is good business for our division.\u201d<\/p>\n
Good business, likewise, is found in the position group\u2019s depth. <\/p>\n
Joey Porter Jr. enters his fourth NFL season riding a streak of games without a touchdown allowed to a player in coverage dating to midway through his rookie year. Veteran Jamel Dean was the consensus top cornerback available in this spring\u2019s free agent market, and Brandin Echols has experience and versatility.<\/p>\n
Asante Samuel Jr. last season proved he was recovered from a significant neck injury that almost derailed a promising career. Early returns suggest Daylen Everette could be an excellent third-round pick. Jalen Ramsey is a future Hall of Famer who is embracing a likely move into the slot\/nickel and overall \u201cchess piece\u201d on defense.<\/p>\n
Safeties<\/p>\n
Ramsey mostly played free safety over the second half of last season after the season-ending injury to DeShon Elliott. Elliott is back in 2026, and Jaquan Brisker was added as one of the best safeties available in free agency. Ramsey figures to still line up, at times, at a safety spot. Darnell Savage was another experienced veteran addition to this group.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have in the secondary a group of guys that we feel happy with,\u201d assistant head coach\/secondary Joe Whitt Jr. said. \u201cAnd now we just have to make sure we put the right combination out there together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At its core, the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 new defensive brain trust leans toward cerebral schematics in devising the unit.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":758579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-758578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=758578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/758579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=758578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=758578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=758578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}