Terrell Edmunds Will Be Sadly Missed By Steelers In 2023

The Pittsburgh Steelers are loudly putting together a very good 2023 offseason, and until the season officially starts, Steeler Nation will be chanting Omar Khan's name, while applauding him for a job well done. 

Between the team's free agency signings and their 2023 NFL Draft class, Khan and the rest of the front office have done a remarkable job addressing all the holes left by players leaving in free agency, as well as making upgrades on what they identified as weak links. One area where there is still a lot of questions around, and honestly likely the last big one to definitively answer, is how does the team plan to replace Terrell Edmunds? 

Edmunds has been a staple for the Steelers' defense over the past five seasons being their starting strong safety ever since he was drafted in the first round by the team in 2018. He was often given a lot of ridicule by the fanbase, especially early in his career, as he didn't seem to be living up to his first round billing. In spite of all of that noise, Edmunds continued to improve every season, and was one of the most consistent and versatile players on the team. Pairing that with his ability to almost always be available to suit up and play, which some have said the best ability is availability, and the Steelers are left with a big hole in the back end of their defense after he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. 

While there is still a question as to how the Steelers plan on replacing Edmunds, they didn't hesitate to find solutions as they made sure they had some key pieces on their team to aid in filling his old spot. 

Steelers Re-Signed Damontae Kazee

Last offseason was also an eventful one, and signing Damontae Kazee to a one-year deal was one of the last signings made by former Steelers GM Kevin Colbert. Kazee unfortunately missed the first half of the 2022 season due to injury, but once he retuned, he made his impact felt. Despite playing only 273 defensive snaps across nine games, Kazee managed to record two interceptions and two passes defended. 

Despite being a splash player, Kazee is not a one for one replacement for Edmunds. In fact, based on how the Steelers used him, they play him almost nothing like Edmunds. Kazee played almost exclusively as a free safety and didn't venture into the box and/or slot nearly as much as anyone anticipated coming into the season. Instead, Kazee's presence allowed Minkah Fitzpatrick to play in a different role, a role that required him to play in the slot and in the box more. Now, taking Fitzpatrick out of his usual role next to Edmunds, a role in which he has become known as one of the top safeties in the league at, may not seem like an ideal scenario. However, having the ability to move Fitzpatrick around is definitely a nice to have. 

Steelers Signed Keanu Neal

When the Steelers signed Keanu Neal, they managed to find someone who has an extremely similar role at this stage in their career, compared to what Edmunds had last season with the Steelers. Let's take a quick look at Edmunds' and Neal's snap percentage by alignment in 2023. 

                   Edmunds                  Neal

Box:               36.3%                   40.2%

Slot:               22.0%                   16.9%

Deep:             28.7%                   29.7%

Those are remarkably similar numbers. Now, Steeler Nation shouldn't expect the team to just plop Neal into Edmunds' old role and expect everything to be solved. Edmunds was playing the best football of his career the last two seasons, and was an exceptional athlete. Neal unfortunately suffered two serious injuries in 2018 and 2019, a torn ACL and a torn Achilles, which unfortunately impacted his career in a negative fashion. Prior to those injuries, he put together tremendous rookie and sophomore seasons. Neal hasn't been able to return to his pre-injury form on a consistent basis, but he definitely can help fill the void. 

Steelers' Rookies

Throughout the draft, the Steelers failed to directly address the safety position. That wasn't necessarily for lack of opportunity however, as the team passed on the draft's top safety, Brian Branch, on two separate occasions in favor of their first two picks, Broderick Jones and Joey Porter Jr. One of those picks, Porter Jr., might just be able to help out when it comes to filling in for Edmunds in 2023. 

The Steelers just drafted two cornerbacks who have very similar skillsets in Porter Jr. and Cory Trice Jr. Both are tall, long, in your face cornerbacks that like to do their dirty work at the line of scrimmage by getting their hands on the offensive player. These attributes could be useful when facing opposing tight ends, as that was a large part of Edmunds' responsibilities. Having one of these two rookies continue to develop behind the veterans, as well as being able to contribute early in the season against large wide receivers and/or tight ends, will add a needed versatility void in the secondary. 

There is no doubting that Edmunds was underappreciated in his time in Pittsburgh, and his absence from the Steelers' lineup will without a doubt be noticed. Khan and company did a lot to attempt and fill the void Edmunds' departure left in the Steelers' secondary, but will it be enough?

Let us know what you think about how the Steelers will attempt to replace Edmunds in 2023 below!

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