Steelers Announce New Beginning Safety
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Pittsburgh — The Pittsburgh Steelers, who are trying to finish their late-season drive for the postseason and close up the regular season with a strong roster, are in a risky situation due to injuries and a harsh penalty.
The Steelers have nearly entirely exhausted their safety depth chart, so for this week’s away game against the Seattle Seahawks, they have promoted veteran Miles Killebrew to strong safety.
As Killebrew’s backup, Trenton Thompson is reported as having a neck ailment. Additionally, Killebrew is labelled as Minkah Fitzpatrick’s backup at free safety. Fitzpatrick is uncertain to play against the Seahawks due to a knee injury.
Over his eight seasons in the NFL, Killebrew has had 127 appearances, but only five of those have been starts. Though he is a captain and an excellent member of the special team, he has little defensive experience.
Throughout his career, Killebrew has played 3,250 snaps, 78% of which have been on special teams. Killebrew’s 7% defensive snap share in 2023 is the most since he played 8% of the defensive snaps for the Detriot Lions in 2019. He hasn’t played more than 8% of the defensive snaps in a season since 2017.
In addition to making 18 tackles this season, he also completed a safety, made one tackle for loss, and blocked four punts since 2021—the second-highest total of any NFL team during that time. Although this season he has allowed completions on 72% of the passes thrown to him, Killebrew has not yet been given credit for a missed tackle in the 2023 campaign.
