4 young players trending up early at Steelers training camp

S/DB Antoine Brooks Jr.

Prior to training camp, Antoine Brooks was hardly a player you could start a conversation about. The former 2020 6th-round draft choice was a backup strong safety for the Steelers last season, and chipped in just 29 total defensive snaps as a rookie, according to Pro Football Reference.

However, he has been perhaps the talk of Steelers training camp early on. After most assumed that Pittsburgh would use James Pierre or Justin Layne in a much larger capacity this season (which is still a possibility), it was Brooks who is listed atop the depth chart as the team’s top nickel cornerback.

This is interesting for a number of reasons. Listed at 5’11” and 220 pounds entering the league, according to Mockdraftable, Brooks doesn’t really fit the size profile the Steelers typically look for. While he could struggle against shifter receivers in the slot, nobody is questioning his physicality – something that was on display often during his time at Maryland.

Brooks will have to continue to impress, and picking off Ben Roethlisberger during the first week of practice was a start. If he does, Brooks could be the starting nickel cornerback for this team in 2021. Keep your eyes on him this training camp.