Steelers Reunion: James Pierre Special Teams Study

The Pittsburgh Steelers reunited with another former player this week, bringing back CB James Pierre. Originally signed by Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent in 2020, Pierre spent four seasons with the Steelers through the 2023 season.

Last year was a rather painful showing for him defensively, particularly struggling in coverage on a minimal 26 snaps, including a touchdown allowed. There were some bright moments previously, but overall being below-the-line on that side of the ball was likely a reason the team was comfortable moving on.

Where Pierre has excelled, and likely provide his value, is on special teams. He was brought back following WR Ben Skowronek landing on injured reserve, who performed well in an important gunner role in Week 2. Considering these facts, the timing of Pierre’s signing and his experience with Pittsburgh in that role, any potential opportunities would likely come in this facet of the game.

So, let’s look back at Pierre’s special teams career.

Here’s how he fared in his four seasons to date, looking at special teams snaps (minimum of 175 per season) and PFF special teams grades:

First, we get a sense of Pierre’s valuable experience, with nearly 200 special teams snaps in each season (his least was 196 in 2022). Last season featured his most snaps (269), but we see the last two years were his lowest special teams grades, particularly 2022 (46.7). He tied for his most solo tackles that year (six), a number he achieved in three of his four seasons.

A main reason for his low 2022 grade was a career-high three penalties, tying for 12th most out of the 139 qualifying CBs. Pierre had at least one penalty in every season, with his least coming in 2021 and last year. 2023 was also a below-average grade among qualifiers (59.5), and while PFF’s opinions are just that, it’s not great to see Pierre’s two most recent campaigns as his worst marks.

Previously, he fared well among his peers. Pierre’s best 71.7 special teams grade came in his second season (2021), ranking 25th among qualifiers. As a rookie, that number was 68.3, tying for 38th. He had 11 and nine combined tackles his first two seasons, but two missed tackles in each.

Pierre’s strongest grades coming in those years point to some otherwise encouraging play, considering PFF highly dings players for missed tackles and penalties. The bright side is he cleaned that up, with no missed tackles on special teams the last two seasons, which deserves kudos.

Not only did Pierre play a considerable amount, he was also a core special teamer with experience on five units. I alluded to his gunner play, where Pittsburgh would likely utilize him. To date, Pierre has 267 punt coverage snaps, along with 250-plus on the punt return (276), and his highest snap count on kick coverage (293).

Last season, Pierre played most on punt coverage with 84 snaps, which was third-most among qualifiers. That will likely be the case again if he indeed sees the field as I expect.

Being able to bring Pierre back, considering his familiarity with Pittsburgh and special teams experience, makes a lot of sense. Here’s to hoping he shows out, particularly at gunner which had been below-the-line overall in 2024. Filling that void, vacated by Skowronek’s unfortunate injury after a promising performance, would be huge. Special teams matter, and Pierre could be a difference maker.