Film Room: What The Steelers Are Getting With CB Anthony Averett

The Pittsburgh Steelers invited a couple veteran players along with a handful of rookie tryout players to their rookie minicamp last weekend, and CB Anthony Averett is the only one to sign as of Monday evening. He was selected in the fourth round of the 2018 draft by the Baltimore Ravens, so he is entering his seventh season in the league.

He signed a one-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers last August but ended up getting waived due to an injury. He spent part of the 2023 season on the Detroit Lions’ practice squad but played zero snaps of any kind last season. He also didn’t get a ton of play with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022 with just six total starts. The majority of his playing experience came with the Ravens over the first four seasons of his career.

The Steelers may have a need at slot corner, but Anthony Averett probably isn’t the best candidate to help out in that area. He has played 1,488 snaps out wide to just 140 slot snaps throughout his NFL career. There are also some issues with his play style that aren’t best suited for the slot, but more on that later.

He played a fair amount of special teams snaps over the first four seasons of his career with the Ravens, but zero with the Raiders, so it’s been three years since he played on special teams units. If he is a depth corner for the Steelers, it will be difficult to make the team if he adds zero special teams value, so that will be something to keep an eye on throughout the rest of the offseason.

In his career, he has 114 combined tackles, 99 solo tackles, one tackle for loss, three interceptions, and 23 passes defensed in 27 starts and 51 games played.

Let’s look at some clips of his film from a handful of games over his 2021 and 2022 seasons. With the Ravens he wore No. 23 and with the Raiders he wore No. 29.

In terms of athleticism and his ability to turn and run with receivers, Averett holds up very well. He ran a 4.36-second 40-yard dash at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine and his speed shows on tape. This clip shows a few plays where he flips his hips and runs vertically with receivers. His hips are fluid when he opens up to break into his sprint and he does a great job staying in phase. Because he stays in phase so well, he has confidence to turn his head to look for the ball, which results in pass breakups.

Somewhat surprisingly, that hasn’t resulted in many interceptions for him. He has just three in his career, and none of them came on particularly impressive plays. There is something to be said about making the plays that are in front of you, and he does that on all three picks. In the final play in this clip, the ball bounces off DeShon Elliott’s helmet and right into Averett’s hands in the end zone, for example.

His hip fluidity also shows when he needs to mirror receivers out of their breaks. His change of direction and acceleration are both very solid, and he really does a nice job staying in position to make plays.

All of that is pretty positive, and there is stuff to like in his game, but here is the kicker. Averett really struggles as a tackler. He isn’t very willing to throw his body in the pile, and he is prone to missing tackles due to poor angles or bad technique. There is a reason that an outside corner only has one tackle for loss, and he just doesn’t have that quick trigger or instinct to come downhill to make the physical plays.

Defenders should ideally always be swarming to the ball to cover as many options as possible, but Averett tends to shy away from the pile. Other than his lack of experience in the slot, this is the biggest reason why I don’t think he is a slot option. Slot corners play closer to the line of scrimmage and are more exposed to the run game and the possibility of linemen or tight ends blocking them. That will not set Anthony Averett up for success. This is also why I am concerned about his ability to earn his keep on special teams.

Anthony Averett has some questions to answer if he hopes to make the 53-man roster, but fortunately for him there is plenty of room in the cornerback room right now. Patrick Peterson, Chandon Sullivan, James Pierre, and Levi Wallace are no longer on the roster, and the Steelers replaced them with Donte Jackson and sixth-round rookie Ryan Watts. Averett does enough things well in coverage on the outside where he should have a chance to make the roster, but it will be as a depth player and that becomes difficult if he cannot contribute on special teams.

It should be an interesting camp with Cory Trice Jr., Watts, Averett, and others competing for a role on the defense.