This is a discussion that has been kicked around on other message boards for a while. There are articles dating back to the 2014 season about how the Steelers sub-packages need to evolve, kind of happened with the retirement of Casey Hampton. They no longer had a pure run stopper in the middle, so the evolution idea was born. Not sure that Melinfonwu is a a linebacker though. He was a box safety at UConn. So, I'm not a fan of calling this a pure nickel, because he really is a DB, more of a heavy dime. Still, semantics. Oddly enough, not new, Steelers have fiddled with the passing sets for a while. I am sure everyone remembers the Penny defense, where Hampton played down, Keisel was up, had 4-5 standing LBs/DEs milling around and 5-6 DBs behind it. Failed pretty badly. They used the nickel last year a lot because Timmons and Shazier stayed healthy, so they were putting their best 11 on the field. Heyward was injured about the time Hargrave had his rise, Dupree returned, inserted Harrison, just kind of dictated by personnel. So, you are running 2 down DL, 2 edge rushers, 2 ILBs, and your 5 DBs. But, if Shazier goes down last year, do you insert Williams or Golden? If it is Golden, you are going dime. That happened in 2014, Vince Williams rookie season. Foote goes down, Shazier battles injuries, and they walk Polamalu down into the box. Flushed back to more nickel in 2015, but they flex based on personnel.
The biggest question is, which way do they want to go? I still don't know Butler's ultimate plan. This is just his 3rd draft, took Dupree/Golson in the first and Burns/Davis/Hargrave in the 2nd. Well, frankly, those guys can fit in about any system. Golson might be the toughest fit because he looks like a slot corner due to size, but that 3rd corner gets plenty of snaps in today's NFL. Hargrave is a DT/NT, but his strength pre-draft was pass rusher, not so much as stumpy run stopper. The two key traits are athletic and versatile. Melinfonwu fits those. Is he a deep corner? I don't see him as a single high or even a great cover-2 guy. He can be slow to react on the deep end. He is a box, SS or hybrid. Do you move Davis in 2 years to accommodate him? He was a late 2nd/3rd round guy until he blows up the combine. He isn't Byron Jones on film, not even close. So, do you draft him at #30 when his fit might be box only? I'm not so sure. Second...maybe. Still, depends on the board for me and who I took early.
It is why I like DBs like Awuzie and Baker. Baker can play your slot early, move to FS later, and the defense keeps on chugging. You can add that box/big safety in the middle or later rounds if you want that hybrid. Or, you can draft a pure safety and bounce Davis down, I feel certain he can handle it. Tough call, really all depends on the Tomlin/Butler plan for the defense and how many true DBs they want to employ. If it is 5, I think they go ILB, pure ILB. If it is 6, might see that hybrid. The alignment in front of those guys should tell something too. If they use 3 DL (Heyward, Tuitt, Hagrave), hybrid is more likely to me. If they use 2 DL, probably go traditional LB because they might need more of a run presence. They entertained the idea of signing Hightower, so that might be the plan. Or, they might evolve the defense to the available talent.
