When the Steelers inked linebacker Patrick Queen to a three-year, $41 million contract in free agency this past offseason, everyone assumed he would be the biggest signing of the offseason for Pittsburgh. This hasn't been the case.
Though Queen flashed at times in his first four games of the season, his performance has been underwhelming so far. Fortuantely, the same cannot be said for DeShon Elliott.
Elliott has been a tremendous addition to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The hard-hitting safety routinely finds himself involved in the play and his impeccable run defense and sound coverage have aided the team in a way nobody expected.
After impressing in his first three games of the season, Elliott proved to be the lone bright spot on dense in Week 4, as most Steelers defenders got off to an apathetic start against the Colts. As a result, Pro Football Focus handed Elliott an outstanding 86.2 overall grade for his efforts in Indianapolis.
The highest-graded Steelers in Week 4 vs the Colts:
— PFF PIT Steelers (@PFF_Steelers) September 30, 2024
🥇 DeShon Elliott - 86.2
🥈 Cameron Heyward - 80.5
🥉 T.J. Watt - 75.8
🏅 Dan Moore Jr. - 75.7
🏅 Zach Frazier - 74.7 pic.twitter.com/1lyWmm3wpv
This was hardly Elliott's first time balling out and putting up a top-5 grade for the Steelers. This is a feat he accomplished in both Week 1 and Week 2. His strong performance against the Colts in Week 4 marked the third time Elliott earned an overall grade over 80.0 in just four games.
Unsurprisingly, Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt also ranked inside the top five for the Steelers in PFF grades in Week 4.
Steelers look genius for signing DeShon Elliott
If the rest of the league knew that DeShon Elliott was going to perform this well to begin the year, he would have earned a lot more money during the 2024 free-agency period. Instead, the Steelers were able to ink him to a two-year contract for just $6 million.
It's early in the season, but Elliott has arguably looked like the best safety on the team (and that's with All-Pro Minkah Fitzpatrick in the secondary).
The tape suggests this has been the case. Elliott has played mistake-free football in the secondary while proving to be an essential piece in stopping the opposing rushing attack. In four games, Elliott racked up 30 combined tackles, two pass defenses, a tackle for a loss, and a pivotal interception against the Falcons.
If he's able to keep up the pace, it could be Elliott who earns All-Pro votes in Pittsburgh's secondary this year. His strong PFF grades simply confirm everything we've witnessed on film from him so far this season.