Charles Woodson retired from the NFL more than a decade ago, but the ears on his Hall of Fame bust must’ve been burning this week.
That’s supposedly what happens when you’re talked about, right? And Woodson’s name came up more than a few times at Pittsburgh Steelers minicamp. For that, credit secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr., who needed a way to describe the versatile role coaches have in mind for Jalen Ramsey.
There aren’t too many comps.
“The way we used Charles Woodson in Green Bay,” said Whitt, a Packers assistant for 11 seasons. “He played the star. He played corner. He played safety. He played the money. He did all of those things.
“Charles could do it all in one game. He’s one of the rare guys that can do it. Jalen has a similar skill set, similar size, similar speed. I’m just excited to see how we work with him and the way we use him.”
The NFL can be a small world. When Ramsey found out a few months ago that the Steelers were hiring Whitt to coach the secondary, guess who Ramsey called?
His friend Charles Woodson.
“Charles is definitely one of the best, if not the best ever to play the game,” Ramsey said. “I want to be in the positions he was once in when playing, and then obviously ultimately be in the Hall of Fame one day like he was.
“So, yeah, he’s definitely somebody I look up to. Knowing that I’m around the coaches who he was around in some of his best years is pretty cool.”
A 11th-year pro, Ramsey is a player who the new Steelers staff wants to, in their word, “weaponize.” The 31-year-old shifted from cornerback to safety a year ago when the Steelers badly needed help. His primary role next season is likely nickel back, but his job description might change frequently, if the Woodson comparison holds up.
The similar measurables do.
The Steelers’ roster lists Ramsey at 6-foot-1 and 208 pounds. Woodson was 6-1 and 211 in his playing days. Both broke into the league as a can’t-miss cornerback prospect, each drafted as a top-five pick.
But Woodson’s 18-year career experienced a rebirth in his early 30s, once he arrived in Green Bay with McCarthy and Co. He was voted to five more Pro Bowls, named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2009 and won a Super Bowl two years later — all after his 32nd birthday.
Ramsey turns 32 in October. Could his playing career have a similar second act?
“When Charles came to Green Bay — when we moved him inside and he played the nickel — I thought his game went to a whole different level,” said McCarthy, remembering how positioning Woodson closer to the line of scrimmage made him more impactful.
“I thought Jalen has the same ability,” added McCarthy, recalling the times Ramsey faced his Cowboys teams. “He’s a special piece to our defense. He can play nickel, he can play corner, he can play dime and can also play safety. I’m really looking forward to working with him, but yeah, I can see exactly why Joe says that. That’s an excellent comparison.”
Injury and ineffective play caused the Steelers to use six different starters at safety last season. Ramsey played 450 of his 1,153 defensive snaps at free safety a year ago after moving there in Week 9.
The team bolstered its roster in the months since, adding free agent safeties Jaquan Brisker and Darnell Savage Jr. and seventh-round draft pick Robert Spears-Jennings.
They also signed cornerback Jamel Dean and drafted third-rounder Daylen Everette, giving coaches the freedom to potentially move Ramsey around.
For his part, Ramsey remained cautious about the idea.
“I think we have to have more conversations about it, and things have to evolve,” he said Wednesday.
Trying to replicate Woodson’s contributions in Green Bay is a tall task.
The Packers’ website noted his varying roles as a roving off-ball defender in the 2010 Super Bowl season. He was a spy defender on Eagles quarterback Michael Vick for one game and contributed to the Packers’ run defense, but in other weeks matched up with towering Lions wideout Calvin Johnson and shifty Patriots receiver Wes Welker.
Physical talent alone didn’t make Woodson so versatile, Whitt said. Rather, it was his intelligence, too.
“When you’re a multi-positional player, you have to understand the scheme and what’s going on around you,” Whitt said. “Not just at your position but at the positions around you because the very next play you could be playing the ‘star’ to the ‘wheel,’ which is the very opposite of what you just did. You have to be very, very smart to be able to do that.”
Whitt said he hadn’t yet worked closely enough with Ramsey to say whether he can make those quick adjustments. However, Whitt said he believed Ramsey still has the coverage skills to match up wideouts, big or small. If so, that seemingly makes him a good fit for the nickel role.
“Jalen is quick enough to match some of the smaller bodies and big enough to defend some of the larger bodies,” Whitt said.
Ramsey started all 17 games last season and tied a career high with 88 tackles. He earned his eighth Pro Bowl nod and his fifth in the past six years. His stats also included eight pass defenses, an interception and a career-best three sacks, drawing his newfound comparisons to Woodson.
“It means a lot,” Ramsey said. “I’ve had a lot of pride throughout my career in being versatile, being able to do different things.”