One of the more quiet, strong performers of the Steelers' training camp and preseason was Cameron Sutton. He worked at both outside and slot cornerback positions and was the most dangerous cornerback to target at Saint Vincent College all summer.
What stuck out about Sutton and his preseason work was a strength he's shown throughout his career: Playing within Keith Butler's designed scheme and being in the right spot. That sounds simple but with his ability to challenge the ball, that can lead to bigger results.
Sutton always had strong fundamentals as a defensive back, including solid footwork to stay in position to play the ball. But sometimes he would get outplayed — not being fully aware of the down and distance or the specific skill set of an opponent.
Throughout training camp I saw Sutton consistently challenging the ball across the field and shrinking the passing windows for Ben Roethlisberger, Mason Rudolph and Josh Dobbs. He did that in all four of the preseason games, as well. Watch how he stays alert and cuts with this short out route by Tampa Bay's Justin Watson. He keeps his feet chopping and turns upfield to force a high pass that Watson keep in bounds:
Sutton isn't going to be a premier playmaker for the Steelers' defense this season. But what he can be is a good role player to help the stars shine better in their spots. When he shrinks those passing windows he discourages quarterbacks from targeting his receivers or forces the receivers to go all out to make spectacular catches in tight situations.
It's those tight situations that create more opportunities for the stars on the defense to make big plays. On this next play against the Chiefs, Mike Hilton was in the position where you can expect Terrell Edmunds to regularly come up with a big hit.
Here, Sutton covers Cody Thompson over the middle of the field. Because he's in man coverage, Sutton establishes and maintains inside leverage against Thompson. He doesn't jam him, but when the ball comes over the middle he's deep enough in the route to force another high pass that Thompson sells out to catch. When Thompson goes up, Hilton delivers a big hit that forces an incomplete pass:
Having a reliable, inexpensive player to challenge receivers is important because teams can't afford to invest in stars at every position. Sutton is on a rookie contract and it won't cost too much to keep around when it expires after the 2020 season.
That would provide the Steelers with some protection at cornerback should they not want to keep Steven Nelson or Justin Layne doesn't develop while Joe Haden finishes out his newly extended contract.
What Sutton also brings to the table is the ability to turn bad passes into interceptions. He saved the Steelers from losing to the Browns in last season's opener when he picked off Tyrod Taylor while covering Josh Gordon. And you saw him make a similar interception last week against the Panthers. Notice how he runs the receiver up the sideline and stays underneath the route knowing he has safety help over top. That allows him to be in position to challenge a tight pass or intercept a bad one like this duck from Will Grier:
The Steelers have led the NFL in sacks for two consecutive seasons but haven't had the interception numbers that the better pass-rush teams in the NFL possess — the Steelers' eight interceptions in 2018 were the fifth worst in the NFL. Part of that has been the lack of ball skills in their secondary. Sutton won't make Troy Polamalu-like interceptions, but he will be in position to make the easy ones when a Butler blitz forces a bad throw.
Those will be needed to help flip field position for a Steelers offense going through a transition without Antonio Brown.
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