The Steelers' signing of Morgan Burnett and drafting of Terrell Edmunds begged the question of whether they would use more formations with three safeties that include Sean Davis. The simple talk of the prospect of using an extra safety to replace a linebacker or an extra pass rusher has caused several debates during the team's offseason after losing 45-42 to the Jaguars in the playoffs.
But the reality of the team's problems compounded when they lost Ryan Shazier to injury and had no capable backup at linebacker who could consistently contribute against both the run and in pass coverage against tight ends and running backs.
If the Steelers' answer for that question is to include an extra safety on more plays, there are other NFL teams that have already implemented that strategy. The most prominent teams on that list are the three teams that have been in the most recent two Super Bowls: The Patriots, Falcons, and Eagles.
We take a look at how they use their safeties and how that could be a sign of how the Steelers' defense looks in the future:
Of the different teams in the NFL that have regularly used three safeties — instead of the traditional two — in their defenses, the Patriots stand out as one of the successful teams that have led the way in using this strategy.
In the 2017 regular season, the Patriots' most used personnel group included three safeties — Patrick Chung, Devin McCourty and Duron Harmon, the last of whom intercepted Ben Roethlisberger to help the Patriots beat the Steelers at the end of last year's game between the two teams.
Their next most-used personnel group featured four safeties that included Jordan Richards with the previously mentioned group.
The key to accomplishing this was the team's ability to rely on one of those safeties to perform as an extra linebacker. That safety was usually Patrick Chung, a long-time Patriot who has played for them for all but one of his nine NFL seasons.
Chung often found himself lined up near the line of scrimmage because he was reliable in how he attacked the line and maintained gap integrity during the process.
Chung not only was able to hit the right holes at the right time, but also work his way through traffic to attack the ball carrier or take down the key lead blocker to blow up running plays. Watch how he approaches the line aggressively, yet carefully, while keeping his head up at all times and avoiding a pulling lead blocker to blow up Leonard Fournette right at the point of attack:
Even when Chung couldn't be the one to make the big tackle, he wasn't afraid to be that battering ram who took care of a key blocker in the hole and opened up opportunities for the rest of his teammates. This is a key part of run defense that is often overlooked, both on the stat sheet and in the daily sports columns.
Watch how Chung approaches his gap, sees the fullback coming right at him, and is able to attack the block low enough to blow it up and close down on the hole for Fournette. Even though Chung cannot directly attack Fournette, he certainly deserves credit for this play because of what he is able to accomplish:
But the potential added benefit of having a safety who can help against the run and the pass is being able to do both well enough to prevent an offense's advantage in either situation. That task requires not just the physical capability of a safety to both stop the run and cover eligible receivers, but the consistency to let other teams know that it's a bad idea to attack him when they study your team's tape.
Take the Falcons' Keanu Neal, for example; a former first-round draft pick who packs a serious punch when it comes to punishing ball carriers and is feared when coming to hit receivers over the middle of the field.
Neal is known for coming up big with hits, but he's also a player who can cover in both zone- and man-coverage packages. Watch how he starts this play lined up as an extra linebacker, but is able to shift out to slot coverage of a tight end once the running back is motioned out by Jared Goff. Once Neal is matched up with a tight end, he reacts to the post move by trailing the back shoulder and swiping his hands through the tight end's.
While live it looks like a touchdown, a review later showed how his swipe broke the hands of the tight end and allowed for the ball to hit the ground, saving the score:
Neal represents a player who can help against the run while also closing down on passing windows, and being a player who takes away scoring plays like the one above.
The Super Bowl champion Eagles have another player like that in Malcolm Jenkins, who was arguably the defense's leading contributor behind Fletcher Cox. Jenkins could contribute to both stopping the run as a physical attacker and defending the pass against an array of receivers.
Watch how he's able to stop Dion Lewis despite lining up eight yards from the line of scrimmage. Having that kind of range allows him to defend multiple gaps, depending on where opponents attack. On this occasion, the Patriots tried to use a trap run up A-gap, but Jenkins ensured it wouldn't work:
Here's where that double-threat comes into play, as Jenkins can play that spot as an extra linebacker who can cover against receiving threats. Watch how Jenkins runs with the running back out of the backfield and creates such a tight passing window that when Tom Brady releases the ball, he's able to swat it away:
Jenkins, Neal and Chung are just examples on teams that have been using these schemes in recent seasons. But as we've seen with other schemes and strategies in the NFL, it doesn't matter who uses it first, just who uses it best. If the Steelers can become a team that regularly uses three safeties in order to establish an elite defensive balance against the run and the pass, they could become an elite NFL defense like they were under Dick LeBeau with his zone-blitzing 3-4 scheme.