With the Pittsburgh Steelers buying and selling FS Minkah Fitzpatrick to amass CB Jalen Ramsey and TE Jonnu Smith, there’s an open query of who’s going to switch Fitzpatrick in Pittsburgh. Ramsey, regardless of spending his profession at cornerback, has been floated as an choice, and up to now, Ramsey has mentioned he believes he might do it, evaluating his type to Corridor of Famer Charles Woodson.
Antrel Rolle went via an identical place swap, shifting from nook early in his profession to security the place he was a two-time All-Professional. Talking to Kyle Odegard for Playing Business Information, Rolle additionally in contrast Ramsey to Woodson and supplied recommendation for what it takes to modify positions.
“The primary piece of recommendation is to at all times work the craft that you simply had earlier than. Nonetheless work on that nook craft, as a result of it’s going to make you that a lot better as a participant, that rather more versatile. Once I made the transition to security, yeah, I grew a distinct mentality, however in my coronary heart I stayed a nook. If I stayed a nook, once I was lined up on the Wes Welkers, the Calvin Johnsons, my mentality by no means switched. I used to be only a extra bodily nook now.”
Rolle added that it takes a distinct “psychological capability” to know the playbook, since that you must be extra conscious of what teammates are doing at security in comparison with nook. He thinks Ramsey has the power to play each due to the “aggressive canine” he has, which together with Ramsey’s physique sort, led Rolle to check him to Woodson.
Forward of a 2018 matchup towards Ramsey with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Mike Tomlin mentioned that Ramsey was the perfect security prospect in addition to cornerback prospect within the 2016 NFL Draft. Rolle has the distinctive expertise of somebody who made that swap from a full-time cornerback to a full-time security, and whereas he does assume Ramsey has the potential to do it, it’s not as straightforward as simply throwing the seven-time Professional Bowler at security and anticipating the identical stage of play.
It may very well be particularly powerful for Jalen Ramsey to play security frequently this season on condition that he was traded to the Steelers in late June and must get acquainted with a brand new playbook. Rolle emphasised the necessity to actually get within the playbook to determine what the entire protection is doing on every play in comparison with the “very primary” tasks of being on an island at cornerback.
“Now you need to know, if that three-technique is stunting to the ‘B’ or the ‘A’ hole, this gap could open up. In the event that they pull, you’ve obtained to cancel out a spot,” Rolle mentioned. “That’s a very completely different vocabulary than what we discovered on the market on the island. It’s very primary. There’s not an excessive amount of that you must know on the market on an island.”
The Steelers appear to worth Ramsey’s versatility, and he might definitely see some snaps at security this season. But it surely could be a bit of untimely to anticipate him to play the place completely this season, and it’s extra possible that he’ll transfer round defensively. A swap to security full-time is a chance down the road, but it surely doesn’t appear as if that’s viable for 2025.
