Steelers need to add free safety help

Even with nine draft selections after trading up for Devin Bush, the Steelers (to the surprise of many) elected to forgo the safety position.

In 2018, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Terrell Edmunds in the first round. The Virginia Tech product sneaking into round one was perhaps the biggest first round shocker – as many draft experts had a 2nd or 3rd round grade on Edmunds.

Looking back at it, had they not taken Edmunds, the Steelers could have been in a much worse situation than they are right now.

As it stands, the Steelers starters heading into 2019 are Sean Davis at free safety and Terrell Edmunds at strong safety. Outside of these two, their safety depth is more than concerning.

The next player in line for the Steelers is former 5th round draft choice, Marcus Allen. Allen may be the player expected to fill the dime backer role left vacant by the departure of Morgan Burnett. Jordan Dangerfield – a box safety by nature – appears to be the current backup for Terrell Edmunds.

My question for the Steelers is this: Who do we have that can play the free safety position outside of Sean Davis?

The answer is probably nobody.

Contrary to popular believe, strong safeties and free safeties in the NFL are not interchangeable. In fact, some strong safeties are closer to being linebackers in the NFL than free safeties. This may ring true for Terrell Edmunds, who’s attributes are best suited playing close to the line of scrimmage.

A free safety needs to be able to have a rare combination of coverage ability, instincts, and closing speed in the back end. So if Sean Davis went down, who would the Steelers call upon to play at this position?

Marcus Allen is certainly more of a dime backer and box safety, so free safety would not be a good role for him. Outside of the players already mentioned, the Steelers have  Dravon Askew-Henry and P.J. Locke. Neither are likely to make the final roster.

In an article I previously wrote, I mentioned why the Steelers could look to bring back safety Mike Mitchell – a player who knows the system and started at free safety for four years in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers need a backup plan at free safety and an insurance policy for Sean Davis. With Pittsburgh electing to ignore the position in both the draft and free agency, it may already be too late to fill that hole.