How the Steelers could rearrange their secondary moving forward
Steelers Terrell Edmunds inability to cover the pass in 2019
Terrell Edmunds had a promising start to his career when it came to defending the pass. The 2019 season was a completely different story during his second season. The table below details Edmunds’s regression from year one to year two when targeted by the opposing offense.
| Terrell Edmunds stats | Passer Rating | TD’s allowed | Pass yards allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 83 | 1 | 336 |
| 2019 | 131.6 | 4 | 514 |
The increase in all of these statistics is concerning, and a major red flag for Terrell Edmunds playing safety for years to come. Especially the increase in the opposing quarterback’s QBR. The young safety gave up the second-most touchdowns on the team, only behind rookie Devin Bush. Furthermore, he gave up the most yards allowed on the team. Edmunds pass coverage was non-existent.
During the 2019 NFL season, teams found out exactly who to target when passing the ball. Given, the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers secondary did play spectacular throughout last year’s campaign. Minkah Fitzpatrick put together an All-Pro performance, Steven Nelson had a career year, and Joe Haden finished the year off strong. Additional variables I find that are worth calling attention to would be Cam Sutton‘s ball-hawking persona when on the field last season, and Mike Hilton not being at 100% throughout all 16 games.
| Steelers secondary: 2019 | Passer Rating | TD’s allowed | Pass yards allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Haden | 66.5 | 5 | 487 |
| Steven Nelson | 65.8 | 0 | 491 |
| Minkah Fitzpatrick | 46.3 | 1 | 163 |
| Mike Hilton | 84.8 | 3 | 352 |
| Cameron Sutton | 54.1 | 0 | 132 |