Mar 29, 2016 6 min read

The Steelers finished 30th in pass defense last season, largely because they didn’t see a starting opposing quarterback for the last month-plus of the regular season.

Yet fans are upset that the team isn’t bringing back all of their cornerbacks from 2015.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Actually, they are upset in regard to one cornerback in particular, the same guy they were upset about when he didn’t play in the first half of the season last year – Brandon Boykin.

When the Steelers traded a fifth-round draft pick to Philadelphia in the preseason – because Senquez Golson was going to miss the season – there was some excitement surrounding the trade. It was rare that the Steelers make such a deal.

But Boykin struggled to get onto the field. He showed in Pittsburgh exactly what he had shown in Philadelphia, that he was a slot cornerback. And the Steelers already had a slot cornerback – William Gay – who they feel is one of the best in the business. It doesn’t hurt that he also is one of their team leaders and knows the defense inside and out.

When it became apparent that Cortez Allen wasn’t going to be a contributor in 2015 – or perhaps ever again – the Steelers were prepared to insert Boykin into the lineup in Week 2. He got hurt at practice on Monday and wasn’t able to get on the field again until Friday. The Steelers weren’t going to play him on one day’s practice.

That opened the door for Ross Cockrell to see playing time that week. He played well on the outside in a win over San Francisco, allowing Gay to stay inside.

Two weeks later against Baltimore, he had a tremendous fumble recovery and an interception, showing the same kind of ball skills with which Allen had teased the team.

So he continued to play.

But yeah, fans will ask, what about Antwon Blake on the other side?

A valid point, at least later in the year. But remember, in the early portion of the season, Blake wasn’t playing all that badly. In fact, he had a huge interception he returned for a touchdown at San Diego in Week 5. And he followed that up in Week 8 with an interception against Cincinnati.

Blake also had 10 pass breakups in the first nine games and also forced a fumble against Oakland. Ten pass breakups, two interceptions and a forced fumble isn’t bad. Yes, he had his issues. But in today’s NFL, cornerback is perhaps the most demanding position on the field. The rules are set up for you to fail.

The Steelers knew they weren’t going to have a shutdown pass defense. Instead, they were looking for one that would force turnovers and make tackles. In the early portion of the season, despite giving up some passing yards, the defense was doing that.

But fans wanted Boykin on the field. They made up excuses as to why he wasn’t. Because the Steelers would have had to give up a fourth-round pick instead of a fifth if Boykin reached 60 percent of the team’s total snaps.

That, however, went out the window about three weeks into the season. Once Boykin didn’t play much in the early portion of the season, he would have had to play nearly every snap in the final 12 games to reach that point.

The Steelers weren’t worried about that anyway. They play and coach to win in the current season, not worrying about what might happen down the road.

And let’s remember, a large portion of the time in which Boykin wasn’t getting on the field was played without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Coaches aren’t real inclined to make big defensive changes when their star quarterback isn’t on the field. They play things a little closer to the vest.

But Blake suffered a shoulder injury that affected his tackling ability. And Cockrell’s play tailed off some the more he played.

It all came to a head at Seattle, when the Steelers wasted a 30-point effort by the offense in a loss to the Seahawks.

So the coaching staff turned to Boykin. They began playing him in a rotation with Blake and Cockrell, leaving Gay as the only corner who was on the field full-time.

And in his first game in which he saw extensive playing time, Boykin intercepted a pass. It was a nice play, making a diving catch off a deflection, but it wasn’t like he had made a great break on the ball. He was in the right place at the right time.

His legend grew. Suddenly, he was the Steelers’ best playmaking corner since Rod Woodson. He was the second coming of Mel Blount.

But the Steelers continued to rotate their corners. Why?

Because, quite frankly, they felt Gay was a better slot corner than Boykin. And they felt it weakened their defense, particularly against some teams, when Gay was on the outside in the nickel instead of inside.

And they didn’t feel Boykin was physical enough or knew the defense well enough to play on the outside. Fans can try to argue differently, but the Eagles felt the same way.

Dare I mention the third-and-long play Boykin was responsible for giving up on Denver’s game-winning touchdown drive in the playoffs?

Guess what? He wasn’t exactly a hot commodity on the free agent market, either, signing a one-year, bargain-basement deal with Carolina on Monday, nearly a month into the free agent signing period.

And he’ll be the nickel corner in Carolina – or at least in a battle for that spot.

I have nothing against Boykin. I liked him as an individual and he was a good – not great player. But he wasn’t the solution to the Steelers’ secondary woes in 2015. And he wasn’t going to be that in 2016, either.

With Golson back and another draft pick or two coming in the pipeline, the Steelers will try to improve their pass defense in that fashion.