Pittsburgh Steelers’ Defensive Scheme Should Get William Jackson III Back On Track For The Rest Of 2022

Jackson was rumored to be shopped by the Commanders as early as Week 6 this season, and it was reported that the team would be likely to cut him if they couldn’t find a suitor by 4 p.m. on November 1st. The Steelers were not taking the chance of another team swooping in to sign him after he was cut so they made the move.

Since signing with the Commanders before the 2021 NFL season, Jackson has been a bit of a disappointment for the team which is why they were shopping him. Jackson is a long, fast and physical CB that works best when he is able to play man coverage lined up close to the line of scrimmage. This is what he had a lot of success with during his four seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, including one season under current Steelers’ defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.

Unfortunately for Jackson, the Commanders did not play that same defensive scheme nearly as often. Even Head Coach Ron Rivera acknowledged that the scheme they were utilizing did not always play into Jackson’s strengths.

Steelers’ Are One Of The Heaviest Man Coverage Teams In The NFL

The Steelers’ defense has utilized a man coverage scheme the fifth most in the NFL through the first eight weeks of this season, by running man coverage on just under 42% of the time. Conversely, the Commanders, who ran man coverage the tenth most thus far, came in at just under 33%.

Now, going from the tenth-most to the fifth-most man coverage-heavy defense may not seem like a huge uptick in play-calling that plays into Jackson’s strength. However, the Steelers’ coverage scheme varies significantly depending on their matchup for that week.

For four of the eight weeks this year the Steelers have utilized man coverage 50% or more of the time, while the other four weeks the team utilized man coverage 34% of the time or less. The Commanders were much more consistent in sticking to their scheme week-to-week, as the team ran man coverage between 25% and 42% of the time every single week.

The Steelers adapting their scheme to their opponent each week should allow them to maximize Jackson’s talents, while also allowing him to re-acclimate himself to Austin’s scheme week-to-week.

Jackson will also be able to provide the Steelers’ defense with something they have been missing this season. The team’s defense has struggled at the catch point this season and in 50/50 ball situations, something Steeler Nation didn’t have trouble noticing this past week against the Philadelphia Eagles. Being a long and physical CB allows Jackson to contest wide receivers as the ball arrives, and he takes full advantage of his skill set in this regard.

Throughout his first four NFL seasons with the Bengals, Jackson recorded at least 11 pass breakups in three of them, which included 13 in his lone season with Austin as his defensive play-caller.

While Jackson does very well at contesting at the catch point, he is not a playmaker in the sense of creating turnovers. Throughout his five-and-a-half NFL seasons, he has recorded just five interceptions. The good thing is, when healthy, the Steelers have several play-makers including reigning Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt and star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, both of who thrives on creating turnovers.

Getting Jackson back into a man-heavy scheme is definitely going to be something that should help him get his career back on track. Also, having what should be an elite pass rush once again after Watt returns from injury, as well as an elite safety on the backend in Fitzpatrick, should give Jackson even more confidence that all he needs to do is play to his strengths.