Film Room: Donte Jackson Adds Speed to Steelers Secondary

In the early moments of free agency, the Pittsburgh Steelers traded Diontae Johnson and a seventh round selection to Carolina in exchange for cornerback Donte Jackson and a sixth round pick. Since the acquisition, they reworked his deal into a one-year, $6 million fully guaranteed contract. Entering the offseason, general manager Omar Khan knew that there were holes that needed to be addressed on the defense, particularly in the secondary. Jackson, a former-second round pick in 2018, has been a starter on the boundary for his entire career and is the frontrunner to be Joey Porter’s partner in the starting lineup.

SN analyst Derrick Bell breaks down his game, detailing his strengths and weaknesses. This video goes goes over his reps in off-coverage, press and in run support as well as his fit within the Steelers defense. Jackson adds a speed element to the back end that simply didn’t exist last season with Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace logging significant snaps. This move shouldn’t and likely won’t prohibit Pittsburgh from continuing to add more talent to the room but it does give them a baseline starter that can provide quality play in the short term so long as he remains healthy.