Steelers Have 1 Roster Niche That Can Finally Utilize Mike Tomlin's Favorite Strategy

The Pittsburgh Steelers are always adapting. The defense has gone from a unit that thrived in zone coverage to a team that emphasizes man coverage. However, there is a piece of the current defensive core that can make Mike Tomlin successfully go back to the days of his zone defense that shut everyone down. While Tomlin won't be able to set the playbook back a decade like he would want, he can still throw off opposing offenses with what seems to be his favorite trait in a player: versatility. He has a positional group that is full of versatility in 2023.

Which Steelers' Players Have Versatility?

If Tomlin chooses to utilize the versatility of his players, he still has to be cautious of the past. He can't go too far into it and go back to the full position swap that would lead to linebackers playing in man coverage against receivers. The linebackers and cornerbacks should keep their normal roles. However, with the Steelers having a safety core that has lots of flexibility, Tomlin can get very creative with his defensive schemes. 

Keanu Neal has had some experience with versatility. The former Atlanta Falcons' free safety signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a linebacker in 2021. After his one year with Dallas, he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and rotated between free safety and strong safety. Even though he's not as explosive as he once was due to back-to-back season-ending injuries in Atlanta, he has found a spot in the NFL as a rotational piece and can play free safety, strong safety or box safety, like his long-time teammate.

If there is anyone on the Steelers that knows Neal well, it's Damonte Kazee. Kazee was Neal's teammate for four years in Atlanta and during their one season in Dallas. Kazee even switched from strong safety to free safety during one of the years that Neal was out for the season. It's safe to say that both of these safeties have plenty of chemistry with each other and can thrive off of one another during games, creating another level of effectiveness for the Steelers' defense.

After Neal left for Tampa Bay, Kazee signed with the Steelers, expecting to be more of a box safety before he broke his arm in preseason. Once he came back, he was able to fill in for both of Pittsburgh's safeties when they were out with injury. When both of them were healthy, Kazee was able to rotate with them while occasionally playing in a box safety/dime-backer role. With experience playing all three positions in 2022, Kazee should be more than ready to rotate with the safety core. 

When Minkah Fitzpatrick was first drafted by the Miami Dolphins, he asked them to limit his roles until he learned the playbook. After a year of struggling, he demanded a trade early in his second season. The Steelers traded for him, accepted his request to limit his role until he learned the playbook and he became the one of the best safeties in football overnight. Since Fitzpatrick had given the Steelers permission to use him however, they have almost exclusively kept him at safety, rotating between free and strong safety.

While Fitzpatrick won't be used in all the roles that he was expected to on draft day, he can still rotate at the safety position with Neal and Kazee. In fact, the rotation will specifically help Fitzpatrick thrive. One of the reasons that his statline wasn't impressive during 2020 and 2021 was because he was rarely targeted by the quarterback. Rotation with Kazee and Terrell Edmunds helped with that in 2022 and rotating in all three spots with Kazee and Neal should help even more.

This is where Tomlin can get creative. With all three safeties being able to move around, he can place them at any safety position at any time. He can create weird looks or set traps with rotation. For example, Fitzpatrick can be lined up at box safety while Neal lines up at FS and Kazee at SS. In that play, they might all rotate positions on the snap. Fitzpatrick can back up to the FS slot and intercept a pass that the quarterback thought would end up going to a man covered by Neal.

The possibilities are endless for the Steelers with the amount of versatility that they have defensively and it will allow Tomlin to be more comfortable with defensive play-calling. Tomlin has commonly run stunts like that defensively, but without much defensive talent, and in an era where his prized zone scheme was becoming outdated. With the core of Fitzpatrick, Kazee, and Neal, Tomlin can go back to rotating safeties while staying true to a modern defensive scheme with cornerbacks playing man coverage and linebackers playing against anyone but receivers.

What do you think of the potential of the versatile safety scheme and how Tomlin might use it? Let us know down in the comments.

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