Steven Nelson was brought in to solidify the cornerback position for the Steelers and stabilize the secondary across from Joe Haden. In 2018 he was the NFL's most targeted cornerback with the Chiefs and was was picked on by Tom Brady in the AFC Championship Game as the Chiefs lost.
But Nelson has always been a scrappy cornerback that fights to break up passes even when he's initially beat. That resilience has been seen with his hot start with the Steelers, so let's break down what's made him good:
The Steelers currently have given up the fourth most passing yards in the NFL (640) and the third most passing touchdowns (6). Granted, they did face Brady and Russell Wilson, but it's more than a bumpy start to a group that Kevin Colbert continues to invest in for improvement.
But Nelson hasn't been part of those problems in the slightest. Through the first two games, Nelson has been targeted ten times, allowing only three completions for 32 yards and one pass defended. Only two of those completions resulted in first downs, none of which were touchdowns, giving Brady and Wilson a 40.42 passer rating when targeting him.
But what is Nelson doing right? It starts with strong fundamentals of an outside cornerback. In man coverage the outside cornerback must maintain inside leverage to force quarterbacks to throw the ball in the tight passing window that's over their head but not out of bounds.
Nelson has done that especially well the first two weeks. Watch how he runs with D.K. Metcalf on this go route. Metcalf has insane speed as evidenced by his 4.33 time in the 40 yard dash. But Nelson doesn't care and presses Nelson at the line. Metcalf gets forced to the sideline and Nelson keeps a step ahead of him, as Wilson can't fit the ball to his receiver:
What's impressive about that play is that Nelson was left alone by the Steelers' secondary with no safety help overtop despite facing an athletic freak like Metcalf. But the Steelers seem confident in his ability to challenge opposing receivers.
Nelson has always been strong at challenging back shoulder and underneath passes. Wilson did complete his first pass of the game to Nelson on a back shoulder target to Metcalf, but he could't exploit that as a weakness all game.
Watch how Nelson again establishes his inside leverage, but takes on Metcalf's hand battle by maintaining his position and finding the ball with his inside hand to break up the pass:
The Steelers' second cornerback position has been a target for opposing quarterbacks for years when they're in a tough spot. Either they could find Coty Sensabaugh, Artie Burns or players like Ross Cockrell guarding one of their top receivers.
Nelson took that away for the Seahawks despite being targeted nine times. Watch how Wilson tries another jump ball to Metcalf on a third and 10 as the Seahawks fight for a last second field goal in the first half. Inside leverage is established again, and when Metcalf tries to bully Nelson off the spot, he finds no space for the catch:
If Metcalf hadn't held down Nelson's right hand, that play might've resulted in an interception for how well positioned the 26 year old cornerback was in that situation.
Nelson is currently has the second most targets of any Steeler defender so far this season and yet only has the least amount of yards allowed by all starting defensive backs and inside linebackers.
If the Steelers can rely on two cornerbacks to play strong on the outside, that makes the job of the interior defense that much easier to figure out how to take away passes over the middle.
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