4 Steelers that must be benched as soon as possible in 2021

Steelers should bench corner Arthur Maulet

I had written a little while ago that Arthur Maulet was actually having a quietly strong season. This was true when facing teams that were running heavily, as he is a natural downhill style of cornerback akin to Mike Hilton. When teams targeted him in the passing game though, as the Bears did, his flaws were suddenly apparent. While a good run defender, Maulet has some obvious deficiencies when asked to cover a receiver.

The team isn’t filled with potential slot cornerbacks either. Tre Norwood has improved his play recently, but a lot of that has been due to him receiving a reduced role. He now only has to focus on his job as a dime defender, and that seems to suit him well. Instead, what makes the most sense is putting Cameron Sutton back in the slot on a more full-time role.

Sutton has been ok on the outside, but he hasn’t been anything special. James Pierre, on the other hand, has really turned up his play in the limited snaps that he has seen on the field. He could fit in as the other outside cornerback whenever Sutton kicks inside. Maulet could still have a role on running downs, but to keep him as the full-time starter would be a mistake right now.

The Steelers are on quite the winning streak right now, but more needs to be done in order to keep this team competitive. In particular, these four players are doing more to harm the team than help them. They need to take a seat on the bench if this team wants its winning ways to continue.