Steelers positional grades are mostly disappointing for the 2021 season

Steelers secondary: B-

There was both good and bad to note in the secondary this year. For starters, I thought that former 2018 first-round pick, Terrell Edmunds, took yet another sizable step forward this year — which is great to see. Edmunds recorded a whopping 8 tackles for a loss from the safety position this year. He had just 4 combined TFLs in his first three seasons as a starter. He also deflected 6 passes and earned a pair of interceptions.

Minkah Fitzpatrick was also very good again this season, but he didn’t quite create the same level of splash that he did in his previous two All-Pro seasons. Still, he made some clutch pass breakups late in games and was one of the top-five players on the team this year.

The cornerbacks bring this grade down a bit. I thought Ahkello Witherspoon was the best cornerback on the team by a mile in the second half of the season, but he rarely played before Week 11. Joe Haden and Cameron Sutton, on the other hand, were less than spectacular.

Haden’s age really showed this year, as he’s clearly on his last legs, while Sutton proved to be much more efficient as a slot cornerback than a starter outside of the hashes. This is a group that the Steelers must add talent to in the 2022 offseason, but the overall results weren’t too bad.