FanPost

The Unexpected Top Camp Battle

I really like Cameron Sutton. I liked that guy going back all the way to his Junior year when he elected to return to college instead of declaring for the draft (and probably lowered his draft position a fair bit as it turned out). I loved his fantastic PR production and his polished style of play, especially considering how hard it has been for us to "coach up" CB's.

His career so far hasn't turned out anything like I expected, he has barely even been tried out as a PR, much less had an impact. He also hasn't been an early contributor, unless you count contributing depth. But I still really like him, and it seems like the coaches do too as they've tried him at every position in the secondary to get him on the field, because of his outstanding mental ability. By virtue of this fact, it occurs to me that one of the most interesting camp battles that has developed without anyone taking much noticed is Cameron Sutton vs. Everyone.

Cameron Sutton vs Mike Hilton - The top slot guy is basically a starter in today's NFL, so this is a key battle. Hilton's impressive success in the past would seem to make him the front runner, but he wasn't as solid last year (he was still good, though) and there's the contract situation...

Cameron Sutton vs. Artie Burns - With Sensabaugh not brought back, Burns is Sutton's main competition for top backup to Haden and Nelson. You could throw Layne in this mix, but we've already seen what happens when you throw a raw CB in the mix too soon. Sutton seems to have an edge here in as Burns really needs reps to regain the coaches confidence, and that's exactly what backups don't get; still, Burns' talent can't be overlooked.

Cameron Sutton vs. Kameron Kelly/Jordan Dangerfield - You could probably add PJ Locke and who knows who else to that because the competition for the top backup safety spot is wide open, that's why Cameron Sutton, a CB, is in it in the first place. It's not that unusual for a CB to convert to S, though, and given the lack of heavy competition Sutton could be considered the favorite here.

Cameron Sutton vs. Mark Barron - That may look weird, but it's real, and as often as the Steelers play in subpackages it's really important. Last year, Morgan Burnett played in almost 40% of defensive snaps. He's gone this year and Mark Barron seems like the guy who would most readily fill that dimebacker role. Sutton has been around longer and probably has a better grasp of the defense, plus he's a DB like they've used in the past, but at 5'11, 188, he'd really be more of just a regular dime DB than a dimebacker. Push?

So what is Sutton's role next year? Is he just the backup everything? Or does he start in the slot? Or is he a key subpackage player? Part of the intrigue is the added dimension of how these all interact with each other. If he's the top dime defender and Haden gets injured, does he move to outside CB and Barron take over the dime role, or does he stay in dime and Burns steps up on the outside? If Sutton starts in the slot, does he stay in the slot when they move to dime, or does he step back and play dimebacker with Hilton coming on as slot defender? There are all sorts of ways this could play out, and only time will tell.

Deshea Townsend and William Gay were undersized, unathletic CB's who eventually (each in their 7th year) emerged as solid starting CB's who were able to win by playing smart. Sutton seems like he's maybe on a slightly faster track to a similar destination. It seems like a player with his intelligence is eventually going to find a role as a "not flashy but dependable" craftsman, but it's still a convoluted path ahead for him and it will be interesting to see how it unfolds.


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