Are Steelers fans overrating Steven Nelson’s value to the team?

Steven Nelson was a solid piece of Pittsburgh’s defense the past two years, but are fans overrating his value to the Steelers?

Weeks after being released from the team, many Steelers fans are still up in arms about Pittsburgh’s decision to cut ties with arguably their best cornerback. It was projected that wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster would sign elsewhere this offseason and that he would be well out of the Steelers price range. However, when faced with the opportunity to retain him, it may have cost Steven Nelson his job.

While there are fans out there who believe that the organization made the right decision by letting go of the starting cornerback, many fans are left scratching their heads and still have a lot of questions. How is this going to affect the team in 2021? Is Cameron Sutton the answer on the outside? Do the Steelers believe they already have the next man in place?

Perhaps the biggest question we need to ask is: how valuable was Steven Nelson to the Steelers defense?

Are we overrating Nelson’s value to the Steelers?

There were many that questioned the Steven Nelson signing when he joined Pittsburgh back in the 2019 offseason. A year earlier in the 2018 season, Nelson was the most targeted defensive back in the NFL while with the Chiefs and he allowed 766 yards and 5 touchdowns in coverage, according to Pro Football Reference. However, his 4-interception season and 72.6 passer rating allowed is likely what caused the Steelers to take a chance on him in free agency.

In 2019, Nelson had his best year as a professional. Though he only took the ball away one time, he allowed just 491 yards and 0 touchdowns in coverage while surrendering just 6.6 and just a 65.8 passer rating. In addition, the Steelers cornerback gave up just 37 catches in coverage all season on 74 targets (50 percent).

However, last year, Nelson really came back down to earth. After expectations were high, Nelson disappointed in 2020 – giving up 732 yards and 7 touchdowns in coverage and allowing a whopping 97.0 passer rating. In addition, Nelson gave up 7.5 yards per target and allowed 20 more receptions in the same amount of games (15) as he did in the previous season.

Nelson was a step up from what Steelers had, but still replaceable

Going from Coty Sensabaugh and Artie Burns in 2018 to Steven Nelson in 2019 was a drastic improvement. However, it’s safe to say that the bar was pretty low. In the seasons prior to this, Steelers fans have dealt with lackluster cornerback play in players like Ross Cockrell and an aging William Gay, so seeing an improvement when Nelson signed on shouldn’t have come as a surprise.

As far as Pittsburgh’s decision to cut him goes, this may come down to the fact that they just thought he was another guy. This is evidenced by the fact that he wasn’t even asked to take a pay cut before being released outright.

Perhaps the Steelers really do believe that they already have Nelson’s replacement on the roster, or that Sutton is even an improvement over him on the outside. Either way, Nelson didn’t have the greatest season last year and hasn’t exactly been a stud defensive player throughout his 6-year career. Let’s give Pittsburgh a little credit that they know what they are doing on this one.