3 reasons the Steelers should sign Cam Sutton over Mike Hilton

Cameron Sutton is improving in what was his weaker areas, while Mike Hilton’s strong spot is worsening

Both players are have done very well in 2020, but at the rate that Sutton is improving, he is more than likely going to have a higher ceiling. It is not to say that Hilton hasn’t been incredible this year. Yet, Sutton is showing that for future investment, such as a high paying long term deal, he should end up at a higher peak.

He is a coverage specialist, which we have already seen how much better in coverage he is than Hilton. He has improved his tackling tremendously since 2019. We have to remember that Sutton and Hilton were splitting time in 2019 depending on whether they were in passing situations and rushing situations. Now, Sutton has shown a fantastic improvement to the point where I would trust him on the field in any situation the Nickel formation is being used. His missed tackle percentage, when he was primarily playing in passing situations, was 11% which is not very good. Now in 2020, when the majority of his snaps have been played due to Hilton’s injury, and he has to be on the field in both passing and rushing situations, his missed tackle percentage has dropped to 5%. Hilton’s missed tackle percentage went from 5.8% in 2019, up to 12.1% in 2020.

For Hilton’s specialty to be tackling and playing near the line of scrimmage, it is very disconcerting to see what was once his greatest strength to be getting worse at just 26 years old. With Hilton’s size and coverage skills, he can’t become a less stable tackler and he has in 2020. Hilton has generated more splash in 2020 than he did in 2019. Even so, Sutton has improved that aspect of his game as much as anyone this year.

In all of 2019, Sutton only generated one turnover, but in 2020 he has generated 4. Hilton generated 3 turnovers in 2019, and in 2020 he has generated 2. He has missed significant time with injury in 2020, but he is getting turnovers at a faster rate. Hilton has also already doubled his sack total from 2019 as well. They have both improved in the turnover department. Yet, Sutton improved his strengths and weaknesses in 2020. Hilton improved his weaknesses, but at the cost of weakening his strengths.