One of a handful of surprises from the Steelers on cutdown day was the team placing starting safety DeShon Elliott on injured reserve — guaranteeing he’ll miss at least the first four games of the regular season.
Talking to the media on Monday, Pittsburgh general manger Omar Khan claimed that Elliott had no setbacks recovering from his knee injury despite playing last week, saying it just the “right thing to do” after the safety wasn’t 100%.
Already seen as one of the thinnest position groups on the roster,
Pittsburgh’s initial safety depth chart has just three names: Jaquan Brisker, Rayshawn Jenkins and rookie Robert Spears-Jennings.
To make things more interesting, Brisker has had a quiet summer, never playing in the preseason and missing the last several weeks of practice with an injury. He’s expected to go Week 1, but his level of readiness — and how he’ll look in general — is difficult to gauge from the outside.
But assuming Brisker is good to go against the Falcons who will start opposite him? It’s worth throwing veteran cornerback Jalen Ramsey into the mix, who filled in at safety for the secondary-needy Steelers last year. It’s apparent the team still views Ramsey as a nickel defender first and foremost, but starting him at safety to open the season might allow Pittsburgh to field its best 11 on defense with Brandin Echols also being a capable name defending the slot.
However, I’d guess the Steelers start Jenkins Week 1. The veteran started nine games in 2023 and has 92 career starts under his belt. In the preseason, his strengths had some clear similarities to Elliott, with Jenkins looking comfortable in the box and being used as a blitzer in Patrick Graham’s aggressive scheme with general success.
Spears-Jennings deserves mention after a strong preseason himself, but the rookie seventh-rounder will almost certainly be starting his NFL career primarily on special teams. And with two safeties on the practice squad currently in Sebastian Castro and Juanyeh Thomas, Pittsburgh will be able to make some elevations to further bolster the depth, although it will mainly be more special teams contributors.
The secondary should be able to survive the expected four weeks without Elliott. It’s a big loss, but Jenkins can provide Elliott-esque play, and Ramsey’s versatility means he could rotate in as a safety when the team is in base defense, or if Jenkins just isn’t the right player for the situation.
That said, Pittsburgh’s defensive backfield had coverage issues in the preseason, and while it wasn’t a disaster as the team was down most of its starters, there is reason to wonder how those top players will look with little time to gel together before the regular season.
Joey Porter Jr. didn’t practice leading up to cutdown day, staying on the PUP list and waiting for a new contract. Ramsey never played in the preseason and missed time with injury, as did Brisker. And now Elliott will miss the opening stretch of the year.
There are plenty of talented names on paper, but the Steelers secondary is still a mystery headed into Week 1.
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