Steelers have a surprising plan for nickel cornerback

The Steelers are entering 2021 without Steven Nelson or Mike Hilton

While I was surprised that Steven Nelson was outright cut from the team, I was not surprised to see Mike Hilton leave via free agency. Cameron Sutton earned a starting job as a Steeler with stellar play in coverage in 2020 and I don’t expect him to slow down in 2021. The mystery was who would play in the slot within nickel formations. Sutton and Hilton both made their names in that position but, Steven Nelson’s departure made things less clear.

For a while, we were hearing about James Pierre as the heir apparent to Steve Nelson’s job in order to keep Sutton in the slot. Pierre had been impressing coaches, players, and media watching the Steelers offseason workouts. A new development has thrown a wrench in that belief.

Mike Prisuta, a long-time Steelers reporter, spoke on the Steelers youtube channel after the Veteran minicamp concluded, saying that “Antoine Brooks is first in line for Mike Hilton’s nickel cornerback job”. That is kind of surprising, as most assumed Sutton would’ve stayed on the inside where he shined in 2020. So I did some review of some of Brooks’ college tape, and I saw a player that Maryland liked to keep close to the line of scrimmage and send on blitzes.

I’m not trying to say he will be as productive as Mike Hilton, particularly in the turnover department. However, the usage was oddly similar. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t get to see a lot of Brooks on the defense in 2020. To be fair, he was a 6th rd pick joining the team without a real offseason due to Covid. The fact he even made the team is more of an endorsement.

To me, this revelation opens a few possibilities. First, the Steelers may have drafted Brooks with the intent to let Hilton walk at the end of the 2020 season. Second, James Pierre is either not as good as we are hoping, or Antoine Brooks has just shown out this offseason. The fact that Sutton is all but guaranteed a starting role being as versatile as he is will make this position battle more interesting. Can Brooks’ be a better nickel corner than James Pierre can play on the outside? As of now, it seems the Steelers are rolling with Brooks, even after the glowing endorsements for Pierre.

That is not to say that Brooks’ job is guaranteed. There is still time for Pierre to prove himself as a good enough player to start. If this were to happen, Sutton would be placed in the slot and Brooks would find himself as a depth piece. One thing is for sure, the Steelers are opening themselves to a realm of possibilities to field the best secondary possible and that will make training camp very fun to watch.