4 biggest positional battles to watch at Steeler training camp in 2021
By Tommy Jaggi
Cornerback
This is a position that I am particularly interested to see what the Steelers do with. Despite visiting with several of the top cornerback prospects prior to the 2021 NFL Draft, Pittsburgh essentially elected to forego the position entire in both the draft and free agency this offseason.
In addition, the team parted ways with Steven Nelson in an effort to save some additional cap space. This means that the Steelers have just two cornerbacks with any sort of relevant NFL experience: Joe Haden and Cameron Sutton.
While Hadden has been a starter his whole career, Sutton has mostly been a part-time defensive back for the Steelers who have worn multiple hats. He’s first in line to fill the void left by Steven Nelson.
However, this group gets really interesting beyond him with James Pierre and Justin Layne as the next pair to go toe-to-toe this training camp. In addition, undrafted rookies Shakur Brown and Mark Gilbert could also be given a chance to shine. With NFL defenses that run many packages that include 3 or 4 cornerbacks, it’s going to be really interesting to see who makes the cut this year.