How Shaquille Richardson Fits with the Pittsburgh Steelers

When you are on a roll, it only takes one body blow to really knock the wind out of you. That describes fairly well what happened with the Pittsburgh Steelers and their fifth-round pick.

To put it in perspective, let’s look at the haul the Steelers had made in the draft to that point: 

• First Round: Ryan Shazier, LB, Ohio State
• Second Round: Stephon Tuitt, DE, Notre Dame
• Third Round: Dri Archer, RB, Kent State
• Fourth Round: Martavis Bryant, WR Clemson

It is hard to imagine a better first four rounds for Pittsburgh. The team got younger and more athletic on both sides of the football.

However, there was one caveat to all this. The team’s primary need, cornerback, still was not filled. That means instead of getting a player who can challenge for reps as a rookie, the Steelers are forced to settle for a prospect who will likely impact special teams more than anything.

That is the predicament the Steelers find themselves in with the selection of Arizona cornerback Shaquille Richardson. Physically, Richardson has some excellent tools. He’s got nice length and very good speed and quickness.

However, in terms of football skills, Richardson is very much a project. His football IQ is less than stellar, and in many cases, he is a step late to the play. With Ike Taylor, Cortez Allen and William Gay returning with starting experience, there will be no rush to bring Richardson along quickly. 

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Unless, of course, Pittsburgh gets hit with even a couple of injuries in the secondary. Or if one or more of the previously mentioned cornerbacks struggled like they did last season. If so, Richardson could find himself pressed into duty far too soon.

But what will his role be initially? No one would be shocked if Richardson did not dress for games right away. That’s unfortunate in a draft this deep that a fifth-round pick would not, but that could be the case. The Steelers cornerback depth chart looks like this as of now. 

• Starters: Ike Taylor, Cortez Allen
• Nickel Corner: William Gay
• Dime Corner: Shamarko Thomas
• Backups: Isaiah Green, Brice McCain

What this team needed was a player who will come in and challenge those names on that list. Instead, it gets a kid who has his best shot to dress on game days by impacting special teams. 

Yes, I know that this team has never relied on top cornerbacks to be successful. However, as the ability to rush the passer has dwindled, that lack of talent in the secondary has been exposed. This draft was a real chance to make this a position of strength, and the Steelers chose not to. It won’t take long to find out if this strategy works.

Best-case scenario for Richardson is that he ends up the dime cornerback as a rookie. This would push Thomas back to safety and add some nice balance to the defensive secondary. I knew when the Steelers took Bryant in the fourth there could be a problem with cornerback.

Let’s hope they know what they are doing with this one. They passed up so many great prospects to wait for Richardson to fill arguably their greatest need.