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If there is one position on the Pittsburgh Steelers roster which was completely turned on its head, it would be at safety.
Last year the depth chart looked like this:
Mike Mitchell
Sean Davis
Robert Golden
J.J. Wilcox
Those were the primary safeties on the roster. Now let’s fast forward to today, and the team’s current depth chart:
Sean Davis
Morgan Burnett
Terrell Edmunds
Marcus Allen
Talk about a change, and this is going to be a position to watch as the team moves through their offseason workouts and starts to prepare for training camp in late July. Questions abound regarding this position, but the truth of the matter is these four players need to get on the field together and get acclimated to each other as much as physically possible. For Davis and Burnett, this feeling out process already began in Organized Team Activities (OTAs).
“Working with a new guy, you’ve got to feel him out,” Davis told Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We’ve had walk-throughs in the past few weeks communicating in the classroom setting, but out here it’s a different beast. I feel like we have worked good together. I’m looking forward to moving on.”
Getting acclimated is one thing, but the burning question almost everyone wants to know is who will be playing free safety this season?
Good luck finding that answer...
“It’s still early,” Burnett said. “We’re all in one boat right now. There’s no certain group, nothing like that. We’re all trying to work, get better, help each other get prepared, get conditioned and get ready for the season.”
“We can do both,” he said. “I’m not too worried about that.”
Well then, I guess fans shouldn’t worry about specific positions if the players aren’t, but Burnett’s comment is so much more than just suggesting the players can work it out. In fact, it speaks more to the style of defense Pittsburgh plans on deploying in 2018, and beyond. A defense filled with safeties who can play both free and strong safety, cover and also load the box to be an extra run defender.
When you look at the team’s current depth chart, it is filled with players who can do just that. As I said earlier, this position is going to be one to keep an eye on as the offseason drags on.
Stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers as they progress through OTAs, minicamp and eventually training camp.