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Perhaps the most underrated free-agent signing of the 2019 offseason was the Pittsburgh Steelers acquiring cornerback Steven Nelson from the Kansas City Chiefs. The Steelers gave Nelson the largest free-agent contract in franchise history and it paid huge dividends.
The Steelers had one of the best defenses in the NFL last season and while everyone talked about linebacker T.J. Watt and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, Nelson was quietly one of the top man corners in the NFL. This is an opinion shared by our friends over at Touchdown Wire as they ranked him the No. 6 man corner in the league.
This was especially true in man coverage, where he allowed only eight catches on 26 targets for 107 yards. Nelson didn’t have any interceptions in man coverage, but he didn’t allow any touchdowns, and no cornerback with at least 20 man coverage targets had a lower Positive Play Rate allowed than his 23.1%.
Nelson paired up with Joe Haden to form perhaps the best CB tandem in the AFC. Keep in mind the Steelers don’t play a ton of man coverage and instead opt for various types of zone to assist with pressure schemes but from the minute Nelson was signed you knew this would offer the Steelers options to lock down opposing wide receivers.
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