The Steelers still need to find answers at slot cornerback after the departure of Mike Hilton in free agency. Their top two options as seen in practice and on the team's first depth chart are second-year safety Antoine Brooks Jr. and fifth-year defensive back Arthur Maulet who was signed in free agency this offseason.
Both have merits to their style of play that work for slot cornerback, but in different ways. Brooks Jr. has the profile of a more physical player who might be the closest player on the Steelers' roster to that portion of Hilton's style of play. Maulet is an experienced defensive back who's been solid with communication and flowing between different roles in the secondary.
But which one of them is the better fit?
Brooks Jr. built his reputation at Maryland being a hard-hitting defensive back who converted from being a linebacker in his first two years. That allowed him to go from a player who recorded 77 tackles with 9.5 tackles for loss, a sack, two interceptions and one pass broken up as a sophomore linebacker to averaging 77.5 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception and four passes broken up between his junior and senior years as a defensive back.
He only saw 29 defensive snaps for the Steelers as a rookie, but a large reason for that was Hilton filled the role he would be most suited for, and he had to adapt to the NFL. Now, it looks like Mike Tomlin, Keith Butler, and the Steelers' coaching staff see him ready for the shot as he's the starting slot cornerback at the start of training camp.
Hilton averaged 7.5 tackles for loss over his four years with the Steelers because of instincts that often put him around the ball and a tenacity that led to him challenging any offensive player regardless of their size. That role for the Steelers is vital to maintain their aggressive style of play with another athletic presence in the box to help against the run, rush the quarterback and bully offenses.
Watch this sack from Brooks Jr. when he took on a Minnesota tight end who saw him coming the whole way. Once he sized up his man, Brooks Jr. lowered his shoulder to establish leverage and then continued with strong leg drive to push his man into the backfield and bring down the quarterback:
When he got the right matchups, offenses had problems dealing with Brooks Jr.
But not all matchups are to his favor, and he was primed to get swallowed up when an offensive lineman saw him coming and could get their hands on him. At 5-foot-11, 220 lbs., Brooks is still significantly bigger than Hilton at 5-foot-9, 184 lbs., but he's still undersized to play in the box consistently. Watch how at the bottom of this formation he lined up off the edge and got driven back off the ball:
That's one of those matchups that didn't work.
But even when he doesn't have a favorable matchup, Brooks Jr. puts his nose into the fight and gives it his all. Sometimes, that's all you need.
But that kind of tenacity and perseverance is also needed in coverage when playing the slot. Often times defensive backs in slot coverage get a wide array of matchups from twitchy receivers who can change direction on a dime to bigger tight ends that will look to bully defensive backs. Brooks' college tape showed a player who could run around the field and stick to a player even when the play broke down. Watch how he engaged this tight end on a corner route even when the quarterback broke outside the pocket. When the ball got there, he was still on his man, challenged the pass at its highest point and tipped the ball that would eventually be intercepted:
Brooks Jr. has continued to show that kind of fight in training camp through the first two weeks.
Whether he's matched up with Najee Harris in open field tackling drills or JuJu Smith-Schuster in one-on-one passing reps, the second-year player from Maryland has put his nose in the fight and even came away with some victories, even if he would eventually lose in future rematches during practices.
But 22 years old, he has plenty of time to learn how to handle those matchups.
Maulet was a decent idea of an emergency plan for the slot if Brooks Jr. didn't work out. Even though he's nowhere near the physical presence Brooks Jr. projects to be, Maulet makes up for that being a defensive back who communicates and sticks to assignments even as plays switch around. He's also the most experienced defensive back in the slot on the Steelers' roster outside of Cameron Sutton. Maulet played 247 of his 404 defensive snaps in the slot during his 2020 season with the Jets, which was good enough for more than 61 percent.
But even when he wasn't in the slot, Maulet showed versatility being able to challenge passes while playing off the line of scrimmage. Watch how he played back and broke up a pass from Baker Mayfield:
Maulet emerged as a slot presence for the Jets who filled in for the second half of the season. He recorded a career high of five passes broken up with an interception and a sack. His tackle numbers weren't impressive with only 29 total and none of them being for loss, but he earned his worth from helping against the pass.
Watch how he played the slot to cover this pass to the seam by Mayfield. This time he was in the slot the whole way, locked onto his man most of the way and jumped the pass, almost coming up with the interception:
This is the part of Maulet's game the Steelers will want to tap into when depth answers are needed.
Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds still need depth options behind them, and if Maulet could learn to fill two roles on the depth chart instead of one, it could make the world of difference.
But that still leaves the starting slot option to Brooks Jr., who will get his first chance to shine when the Steelers take on the Cowboys in the Hall of Fame Game Thursday night in Canton, Oh. If he can find the rhythm to be a physical defender and an asset in coverage over the next few weeks, he'll lock in his spot as the starting slot coverage option for the season.
