Per previous posts, yours truly is, ironically travling in the United States, with limited opportunity to follow the Steelers (yep, there’s globalization for you – US expats who live in Argentina follow Steelers less when in the States.)
Nonetheless, a quick Jim Wexell tweet got my attention:
Jordan Dangerfield confirmed he's the next man up for the Steelers at strong safety with Golden and Davis out.
— James C Wexell (@jimwexell) September 28, 2016
As Wexell admitted in a later tweet, he’s respected Dangerfield for a long time (pun intended) and is glad to see him get the opportunity with Robert Golden and Sean Davis both ailing. Here’s to hoping that Wexell’s right about Dangerfield deserving a shot. But the unmistakable flip side to this story is that the Steelers Shamarko Thomas experiment has failed and is over.
- This “news” about Shamarko of course shocks no one.
Was getting his hands on Tom Brady the highlight of Shamarko Thomas’ career as a safety? Perhaps. (Photo Credit: Mark L. Baer, USA Today)
In truth, this is more like someone “becoming a grownup” when the graduate college, even if they’ve officially been an adult since they were 18. The Steelers Shamarko Thomas experiment ended when they benched Thomas and chose to start Will Allen on the eve of the 2015 season and never looked back.
Still, during the Steelers 2016 preseason campaign, when the defense performed well, Shamarko Thomas won scattered praise from fans for at least looking “OK.” But Steelers current situation at secondary unequivocally reveals Keith Butler, Carnell Lake and Mike Tomlin’s feelings:
- They’ve not only given up on Shamarko Thomas, they’ve moved on.
Going into 2016 the Steelers secondary was about the only spot on the depth chart that screamed “liability.” Pittsburgh’s defensive backfield lacked in 2015, and Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin opted to attempt addition by subtraction and thus far, no one inside or outside of the South Side should be doing any second guessing.
Seriously, for as piss poor as Pittsburgh performed against Philadelphia, did anyone mutter to themselves:
- “Ah, if only Antwon Blake or Cortez Allen were out there….”
Neither did I.
With that said, rookie quarterback Carson Wentz looked like Joe Montana in his prime, and plays like Darren Sproles 73 yard touchdown run, which featured Sean Davis and Artie Burns looking like very much like two clueless rookies, so just how much the inexperience of the Steelers secondary can cost them.
- Outside of William Gay and Mike Mitchell, Shamarko Thomas is the most experienced member of the Steelers secondary.
But Shamarko’s experience is only serving to keep him on the bench. When the Steelers drafted Shamarko Thomas out of Syracuse in the 2013 NFL Draft, Carnell Lake opined that had Shamarko been two inches taller, he’d have probably gone in the first round. Maybe he was right, because Shamarko had the other the measurables.
The man that the Steelers once traded a future third round pick to a division rival in order to move up in the 4th round now holds his roster spot solely because he’s a good special teams gunner.
Jordan Dangerfield, who spent two seasons on the Steelers practice squad before making the roster on the strength of his 2016 preseason campaign, is now ahead of Shamarko Thomas on the depth chart. This shocks no one, but it is a little sad, because by all accounts Shamarko Thomas works hard, was mentored by Troy Polamalu and is a good person.
- All of that speaks well of Shamarko, but Mike Tomlin couldn’t and shouldn’t make sentimental decisions.
If the Steelers were ever going to give Shamarko “One last chance” it would have been now. The Steelers Shamarko Thomas experiment is over, and the only thing that could change that would be a catastrophic series of injuries at safety.
