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Former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Darius Rush resurfaced with the Kansas City Chiefs on October 4, re-signing to their practice squad ahead of Week 5.
Steelers fans might remember that Rush was originally poached from the Chiefs practice squad in October of 2023. One year later, he’s returning to Kansas City in the same role.
After joining Pittsburgh a season ago, Rush appeared in a total of 5 regular season games for the Steelers, recording 3 total tackles and 1 pass defense. He also spent some time in the gunner role on punt return coverage and only appeared on special teams in 2024.
Per Pro Football Focus, Rush logged 38 coverage snaps on defense in 2023, earning an accumulative grade of 54.1. He allowed 3 receptions off 4 targets for a total of 37 yards and a passer rating of 103.1.
Although Rush seemed to be trending in the right direction this summer, he was released on October 1 after failing to show consistency on defense and special teams.
The Steelers only have four cornerbacks on the 53-man roster after losing Cory Trice Jr. to injury and releasing Rush, but they still have five safeties as well. Not to mention Anthony Averett, Thomas Graham Jr., C.J. Henderson and defensive backs D’Shawn Jamison and Ayo Oyelola all still remain as elevation candidates on the practice squad.
Steelers Secondary Depth Still in State of Flux Behind Starting Core
The Steelers starters at cornerback and safety have been locked into their roles early in the season, but the depth behind them has been anything but stable.
Out of the Steelers’ 229 possible defensive snaps this season, cornerback Joey Porter Jr. has been on the field for 226 while fellow CB Donte Jackson has been out there for 215 and safety DeShon Elliott for 194 — according to PFF. Even undrafted rookie Beanie Bishop Jr. has played 143 defensive snaps manning the slot and of course, star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has yet to miss a snap.
Outside of those five and third safety Damontae Kazee, however, head coach Mike Tomlin has struggled to find role players that he trusts.
After basically holding an open competition for these backup roles throughout the summer, the Steelers ended up re-signing players that have contributed in the past. Safety Terrell Edmunds being one of them and cornerback James Pierre being the other.
Having said that, it’s fair to wonder if those two will stick around as the season progresses — considering all of the early season changes.
Steelers Will Get Veteran CB Cameron Sutton Back in Week 10
Fortunately, the Steelers starting five in the secondary has remained healthy, for the most part. They’ll hope that continues until at least Week 10.
At that point, they’ll get a key reinforcement in veteran cornerback Cameron Sutton.
Sutton was suspended the first eight games of the 2024 regular season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. But being that the Steelers have their bye week scheduled for Week 9, Sutton’s return date should be November 10 against the Washington Commanders (Week 10).
Sutton’s suspension relates to a March incident in which he was charged with one misdemeanor count of domestic battery. The veteran cornerback, who previously played for the Steelers from 2017 through 2022 before a one-year stint with Detroit last season, is expected to take over as the nickel DB behind Porter and Jackson.
His return would likely relegate Bishop to a reserve role, but it would also lengthen the bench behind a starting DB core that’s been getting plenty of work early in 2024.
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