When the Pittsburgh Steelers traded wide receiver Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers for cornerback Donte Jackson, fans in the Steel City weren't necessarily happy. They didn't know that Jackson had been a top performer on the Panthers' defense. Jackson was sad to leave the team that drafted him, but was excited to embark on a new adventure with a team that had toyed with acquiring him multiple times. When he finally arrived, he knew that he would have to step up and be the veteran leader in a very young cornerback room.
Jackson recently joined his teammate, Steelers long snapper Christian Kuntz, on his show, The Christian Kuntz Podcast. He told Kuntz that he developed a relationship with Head Coach Mike Tomlin while still in college, and Pittsburgh was a team he hoped would draft him. That didn't work out, and he ended up in Carolina, where he said he had numerous great mentors.
Jackson stated that in 2022 and 2023, the Panthers nearly pulled the trigger on trading him to Pittsburgh, but the deals fell through. So when he was offered the Steel City as an option for his trade in 2024, he said he jumped on it. He knew he would be joining a very young room, just like he'd done once. Jackson said he was aware he couldn't make this about himself and had to step up to mentor these young players, including Joey Porter Jr., Cory Trice Jr., and Beanie Bishop Jr. He said he was thrilled to find out how much these young players love football, saying it made it much easier than if he had to pull it out of them.
"Those dudes was easy," explained Jackson. "Joey come in asking 100 questions every practice, 200 in a game. Trice was hurt. Trice came back from an ACL, got through camp, got through two weeks of the season, and hurt his hamstring second year. He could have been down on himself, but nah, he was still in meetings everyday; he's still asking questions, even though he knows he's out the next four weeks. This dude loves ball; he doesn't even have to be here; he's on IR. He could be mentally out of it, but he's here every day. Same with Beanie, he was undrafted, became our starting nickel, and ended the season with four picks. He could have placed his mind on just trying to make the [practice] squad. Every week, I would see myself being a better and better vet, not because of what I was doing, just because I had a great group of young guys who challenged me."
Porter and Trice were in their second season, and Bishop was an undrafted rookie. Jackson became the glue that held that group together. He helped those guys understand what they saw on tape from opposing offenses and what the coaches told them.
Jackson obviously helped them elevate their games. He led the team in interceptions with five, and Bishop was right behind him with four (including two on future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers). Porter had his struggles again this season with being too handsy, but he ended the year with 16 total tackles. Trice could only play in six games due to injury, but had an interception and two passes defended.
Steelers' Defense Has Big Decisions To Make
Despite having the highest-paid defense in the NFL in 2024, the Steelers weren't good enough by a long shot. When they faced some of the league's best quarterbacks at the end of the season, they weren't able to hold up.
This leaves them with big decisions to make. Jackson is only in Pittsburgh on a one-year contract and they will have to decide how much value he added to a secondary that seemed to struggle.
Some feel that the franchise should overhaul that whole defense and get more of a fresh start. It seems unlikely they will trade their two highest-paid defenders, TJ Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick, but if they bring in some better support pieces, it would help them out.
