Steelers' Interesting Pivot To Giant Defensive Backs In 2023 NFL Draft Could Turn The Tide In The AFC North

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a simple philosophy that Chuck Noll installed in 1969. Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin did it a little differently than Noll, but it hasn’t changed much. Noll’s philosophy was to be physical and depend on your players to do the job they are being paid to do. Cowher and Tomlin certainly have thrown more emotion into the mix and done things a little differently to fit the modern NFL. Though the underlying mission has not changed much in nearly 60 years.

The league in 2023 is doing its best to legislate physicality out of the game of football. It started in the 1970s when they outlawed the head slap and then implemented the Mel Blount rule to protect quarterbacks and receivers. The league has tinkered and changed rules repeatedly to where James Harrison should be hailed as a prophet, predicting the current climate in the NFL at Super Bowl XLVI’s media day.  

“Lay Pillows down where I tackle,” Harrison quipped. “So, they don’t get hurt when they hit the ground, Mr. Goodell.”

A dozen years later and the game has seemingly arrived at that point. Horrible, phantom roughing the passer calls made the 2022 season an absolute joke at times. It is virtually impossible to dislodge a ball from a receiver with a big hit because a flag will fly instantly. Replay only serves to infuriate the fan base on the defensive side of the ball when you see that the hit was perfectly legal in many cases and was penalized anyway. It isn’t reviewable of course because the NFL is sending a message, don’t mess with the offense, and sadly it is working.

The Steelers are adapting in the only way the NFL will allow physicality in the modern NFL. They are making their secondary bigger and stronger. The Steelers drafted what they hope will be their starting cornerbacks in years to come with Joey Porter Jr. and Cory Trice Jr. When you watch the tape of both players, what you immediately notice is that receivers have a hard time getting a quick release against them. The pair are probably not the second coming of Blount, but they sure look like they were ordered to his specifications. 

Bigger is better when it comes to modern defensive backs because the only thing you can really do is get a quick jam and make it hard for the quarterback to throw over you. The small delay has to be enough for your pass rush to get home and the Steelers have the best edge rusher in the NFL in TJ Watt who is virtually unblockable. Alex Highsmith’s 14.5 sacks and Cam Heyward’s 12 sacks with Watt missing half a season are just a small taste of what the Steelers’ defense could be in 2023. Teams have to double and triple team Watt and an offense is not going to succeed trying to block Highsmith and Heyward one on one.

The Steelers are not the only team in the AFC North that is adopting the big secondary concept. The Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns have gotten bigger. The Cincinnati Bengals are the only team that has gotten smaller in the division and that may come back to haunt them during the season. Joe Burrow is the reason Cincinnati is expected to win the division, but you can’t win the AFC North without an above-average defense.

The rest of the division is going to have a much easier time throwing over a secondary that does not have one of it's projected six rotation players over six feet tall when they play Cincinnati. Cleveland has three players that are six feet and under, and Baltimore and Pittsburgh each only have two players who meet the criteria. 

The Bengals will be counting on the sublime Tee Higgins to continue his dominance, but the division has adapted by bringing in bigger players in the secondary who can bother him. Unless the Bengals’ offensive line suddenly gets a lot better at protecting Burrow, betting the house payment on a third consecutive division title for the Bengals might be a little premature.

Defenses adapt over time and if you can’t jar the ball loose or hit anyone hard except a running back, it was just a matter of time before defensive coordinators tried something new. Matching speed with smaller cornerbacks has not worked, so it looks like that taller physical corners that can bother a receiver legally at the line and then make the quarterback hold the ball a tick longer to throw over them is the new adjustment. Safeties like Minkah Fitzpatrick should feast on the higher-arcing balls if it works. 

It takes away the quick slants and wide receiver screens because these corners will be in their face at the snap of the ball. When they miss and they are going to miss, there will be some long touchdowns, but there will also be more sacks and interceptions. You have to take the good with the bad in 2023, at least until the next rule changes.

What do you think, Steeler Nation? Are you hopeful that the pivot to a giant secondary can restore the defense to the top of the NFL? Please comment below, or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.

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