Kozora: When It Comes To Slot Corner, The Steelers Are Still Squirreling Their Nuts

To the chuckles of reporters, Mike Tomlin made the comment all the way back in 2021.

“We’re still squirreling those nuts.”

It was in reference to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ slot corner battle. The team had lost ace nickelback Mike Hilton to the Cincinnati Bengals, opening up a battle for those duties. The organization didn’t do much in the offseason to address, leaving it a question for the summer to answer.

Pittsburgh went through its Rolodex of players. There was UDFA Shakur Brown, viewed as that camp’s Beanie Bishop. He didn’t last. The Steelers pivoted to former sixth-round pick Antoine Brooks Jr., a safety/slot hybrid. He got hurt and didn’t look hot in the few reps he received anyway. Still unsettled into the regular season, they used Minkah Fitzpatrick in that role the first few weeks. Deeply uncomfortable, he was unproductive, allowing a 61-yard touchdown to WR Henry Ruggs in a Week 2 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Finally, Pittsburgh ended the year with a committee, using Arthur Maulet on run downs, Cam Sutton and rookie Tre Norwood in passing situations.

Though the names have changed three summers later, the issue remains the same. Pittsburgh’s nuts are still squirreling around.

The Steelers have as much uncertainty at slot corner as they did back then. As they have basically every year in between. In 2022, they used another committee approach after trying to make Maulet their full-time slot corner. Eventually, Sutton worked back inside. In 2023, the team entered camp with three men battling: Duke Dawson, Chandon Sullivan, and Patrick Peterson. Dawson had little experience, Sullivan spent months in free agency, and Peterson was attempting to play nickel for the first time in his career.

An injury quickly bowed Dawson out of the mix, leaving Sullivan and Peterson to split time during the year. The end result was sufficient, though hardly great. Sullivan became the every-down man once Peterson was shifted to safety to replace the pile of injuries and suspensions there.

Entering 2024 training camp, the Steelers have names but no leaders. With Sutton out the first eight games, the team will evaluate young players like UDFA Beanie Bishop and Thomas Graham Jr. along with vets Josiah Scott and Grayland Arnold. Whether the team will land on someone – or multiple players – from that group or outside help is anyone’s guess.

Despite Pittsburgh getting first-hand experience of how important a Hilton-type player is, a stud nickel corner who doesn’t need to be rotated or taken off the field, the organization has made little effort to truly replace him. The Steelers go into every camp not quite sure who will handle that role and hope for the best. Results have been mixed, at best.

Like the defensive line, this is an area where Pittsburgh must make an investment. They’ve gotten away with the bare minimum for years. Veteran players on cheap contracts, using Scotch Tape and whatever is under the sink to MacGyver this position into something functional. The Steelers took long looks at the top slot corners in this year’s draft: Michigan’s Mike Sainristil, Rutgers’ Max Melton, and Kentucky’s Andru Phillips. They left empty-handed.

It’s hard to be too mad at that, their draft strategy of loading up on the offensive line was smart, but it’s a position they need to address sooner than later. Either with a strong free agent pickup or Day 2 draft pick. There’s no guarantee it works but it’ll be a better plan than the pieced-together version of what the Steelers have trotted out the last four years. But even doing that will be tough next year knowing their needs at outside corner, defensive line, quarterback, and whatever else comes up along the way.

If Bishop can become a stud, awesome. Maybe he’s the next Hilton. They need to find someone like him. Or the Steelers will keep squirreling away.