6. Steven Nelson, Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh’s coverage abilities improved exponentially as the 2019 season went along, and a prior glaring weakness became an obvious strength. The most important move the Steelers made was trading their 2020 first-round pick to the Dolphins for defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick and turning him into one of the league’s best deep safeties, but Steven Nelson’s maturation as a coverage star helped, as well. 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%.
Kevin King | Marcus Peters | William Jackson III | Bradley Roby | Quinton Dunbar | Steven Nelson | Tre’Davious White | Tre Flowers | Stephon Gilmore | Jason McCourty | J.C. Jackson