The Pittsburgh Steelers' lone acquisition from the trade deadline is still awaiting a practice debut, let alone seeing the field on a game day yet, but it sounds like the former first-round pick is ready to go after being out with injury.
William Jackson III tackles Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster / Photo Credit: Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
The team acquired cornerback William Jackson III and a conditional seventh-round pick from the Washington Commanders in exchange for a conditional sixth back on November first, but a lingering back ailment landed him on injured reserve just 11 days later.
The former Cincinnati Bengals' draft selection is eligible to make his return with the Steelers having played four games now since his designation to the IR. It sounds like he is all set to get back out on the field, but is still waiting on an official ok from the team's medical staff to return to practice. He hasn't played since the Commanders' Week 5 loss to the Tennessee Titans.
William Jackson III said he hasn't been told if he'll be cleared to practice this week, when he's eligible to come off IR. Seems like FWIW he believes he's physically ready to practice. Just doesn't know the team's plans for him yet for this week.
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) December 5, 2022
Steelers Secondary Help
Pittsburgh's secondary has been hobbled by injuries all year. Depth defensive backs Arthur Maulett and Tre Norwood are the only guys to have played in all 12 games for the team and they both tend to play more on special teams.
Ahkello Witherspoon has had an up-and-down season when he's even been available to play. The 27-year-old has struggled with a nagging hamstring issue that has limited him to just four games this season. He hadn't seen the field since he was benched during the team's big loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and he's now on injured reserve.
Cameron Sutton and Levi Wallace are the corners that have managed to stay on the field the most for the team this year playing in 83 percent and 64 percent of the defensive snaps respectively, but both have dealt with their own injury issues this year.
The biggest constant in the secondary has been at the safety position. Terrell Edmunds has started in 11 games playing in 85 percent of the snaps this season while Minkah Fitzpatrick despite missing a pair of games has appeared in 85 percent.
The team's pass defense is near the bottom of the league per Pro Football Reference and while the secondary isn't fully responsible, it can't have helped to be dealing with a revolving door of different game-day starters.
Steelers cornerback William Jackson is no stranger to the AFC North having spent four seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals / Photo Credit: Bengals.com.
The former Houston Cougars defender knows a thing or two about AFC North football from his time spent as a Bengal and should be a better fit for the Pittsburgh defense than he was in the nation's capital. The 30-year-old is also reuniting with Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin, who had the gig in Cincinnati, during some of Jackson's best pro years.
It was no secret Pittsburgh really liked what Jackson brought to the table back in 2016 during his draft year and he praised the organization when the deal was made.
It pays to have depth and the team is hoping they can swap the depth they had at the position with one player returning from injury with one who can't seem to shake one this year.
Photo Credit: Brandon Wade/AP
Pittsburgh made a very low-risk acquisition and can pretty easily walk away from it in the offseason if they want to but, it would be nice to see him get into some game action before making any sort of decisions on his future.
So, Steeler Nation, are you ready to see Jackson make his long-awaited debut wearing black and gold? Do you think he'll fit well in the defense?
As always let us know in the comment section below or on our social media feeds.
#SteelerNation
