One of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ biggest moves in free agency was to address the starting cornerback position opposite Joey Porter Jr. The franchise did so by signing Tampa Bay’s Jamel Dean.
The 29-year-old inked a three-year, $36.75 million contract with the Steelers on March 13.
Jay Recher is a frequent guest of mine on the “Breakfast with Benz” podcast. He is a longtime radio host and podcaster in Tampa Bay who joins me whenever there is news from that market that pertains to Pittsburgh. You can watch his livestream on YouTube.com. We linked up during a recent 105.9 The X appearance to talk about Dean.
What are the Steelers getting in Dean?
“He’s a big dude (6-foot-1, 206 pounds). He loves to tackle in space. He was one of those guys that (Tampa Bay coach) Todd Bowles really circled when he came out of Auburn and said, ‘That’s the kind of corner that I like,’” Recher said. “He’s a press guy. He’s going to get up on the line of scrimmage, and that’s where his strength is really going to show.”
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How is he against the run?
“That’s probably one of the biggest reasons why I love this fit for him is because Todd Bowles has a type when it comes to his corners. He wants bigger guys. He wants guys that can help out in the run,” Recher said. “He has a type we saw with Carlton Davis, and with Jamel Dean. So I think he’s going to be one of those guys that Steelers fans are really going to love because he doesn’t shy away from contact.”
Recher says Dean prioritizes the run game part of his skill set.
“You’ve seen these corners that look great because they can shadow these receivers and come away and pick off the ball every once in a while. But if you’re going up against Derrick Henry, if you’re going up against some of these other big backs in the league — you’re going to see that in the AFC North — Jamel Dean is not going to shy away from that. I think that’s probably the biggest reason why I like the fit with him in Pittsburgh.”
If all that is true, why was Tampa Bay willing to let him go?
“You saw some issues the last couple of years when the Buccaneers were unable to get to the quarterback, and he had to play off. And when he played off, that’s really not his strength,” Recher said.
“He has his deficiencies if he’s playing off. Receivers can get behind him. But when we’ve seen him at his best – going back to the 2020 Super Bowl, when he was paired up with Carlton Davis on the other side – they were able to get home with four pass rushers with the (likes of) Shaq Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul. You’re looking at a guy that can be really one of the better corners in the league when you’re talking about press coverage.”
It’s Recher’s belief that the Bucs’ defensive coaching staff played Dean away from his strengths too often last year.
“That’s on Todd Bowles and the defensive coaching staff, really not putting him in a position to succeed. … I think they kind of let him down a little bit last year. Jamel is not a guy who comes away with a lot of interceptions, but he had a couple last year. I think there is room to grow there, and with a different defensive mindset and some different defensive voices, I think you could see him even be a little bit more of a ballhawk than we’ve seen so far in his career.”
Will we see him in the slot at all?
It doesn’t sound that way. It sounds like it’ll be Porter on one side and Dean on the other, with Jalen Ramsey in a roaming/hybrid capacity.
“You’ll see (Dean) as an outside guy,” Recher said. “It’s almost like the rotisserie oven in the ‘90s from Ronco: ‘Set it, and forget it.’ I think that’s what’s going to happen with Jamel Dean. You put him on one side, and you have Joey Porter Jr. on the other – and Jalen Ramsey. That secondary, if those guys can get locked into those spots, I think it could be one of the better secondaries in the AFC.”
Just 11 interceptions in 7 years, but a career high of three last year. How are his hands?
Recher joked that may not be Dean’s strongest attribute.
“He’s just not one of those (hands) guys. They even joked around when he had the (three) interceptions, ‘Hey, I caught one!’ That wasn’t coming from the media. That was coming from the players. So it’s kind of a little bit of a running joke. So don’t expect him to be one of those guys that’s coming away with six or seven picks next year.”
You can hear our entire interview with Jay Recher from my 105.9 The X guest appearance on the “Mark Madden Show” below. We also talk about the Tampa Bay Lightning and former Tampa Bay Rays players Mason Montgomery, Jake Mangum and Brandon Lowe, who joined the Pirates this offseason.