PITTSBURGH — After a mixed year for the Pittsburgh Steelers secondary, it looks as if they are turning their image around this offseason.
The Steelers had just one bright spot in the secondary last season, with Joey Porter Jr. having a superb rookie year. Porter Jr. allowed the lowest completion percentage allowed of any eligible cornerback in the league, finishing the season as a member of the PFWA All-Rookie Team.
After having the second worst passing and rushing defenses in the AFC North, with the Bengals worse in both categories ,the Steelers will look to improve markedly in the coming season.
Daniel Jeremiah, an analyst and insider for NFL Network, believes that the Steelers secondary has a chance to be the best in their division.
Jeremiah’s list was Steelers, Browns, Bengals and then the Ravens.
“Number one, Minkah. Just steady, reliable, the leadership, the production,” he said on his Move The Sticks podcast in which they ranked each division’s secondary groups. “Everything about him I love. I think Joey Porter Jr. is on a rocket ship. I really do. I had a chance to go out and see them in training camp last year…had nothing to do with his dad. This guy just gets it. He looks like a Steeler. He plays like a Steeler. He’s going to be really, really good.”
Jeremiah credits safety Minkah Fitzpatrick as well as Porter Jr. with putting the Steelers atop his list for the AFC North secondary groups. Fitzpatrick will be coming off an injury-shortened season in which he played 10 of a possible 18 games.
The rest of the secondary group is comprised of Donte Jackson, DeShon Elliot, Cam Sutton, Damontae Kazee and Miles Killebrew. Adding in a comeback from injury as well as a player in just his second year, it seems as if the Steelers might not have the best secondary in their division.
When you consider the Browns, who have Denzel Ward, Greg Newsome, Grant Delpit and Juan Thornhill, it seems as if they remain the clear favorite in terms of AFC North secondary groups.
