Prior to padded practices, one Pittsburgh Steeler has impressed rather consistently – CB Asante Samuel Jr. His 2024/2025 seasons were cut short by injury, which clearly took time to recover from. Thus far in camp, Samuel is making plays on the football daily. This got me curious: what did his last healthy season (in 2023) look like in terms of pass breakups?
Here is a list of 2023 cornerbacks that had double-digit pass breakups:
Here we see that only 11 corners had double-digit pass breakups, including Samuel. His 11 pass breakups tied for fifth best in 2023, quite an impressive feat indeed. The numbers give more specific context to Samuel’s reputation as a ball hawk, which the Steelers were certainly hoping he’d return to once healthy.
That fits the identity of Pittsburgh’s defense perfectly, one that strongly emphasizes creating turnovers. This may have the Steelers rethinking defensive plans in a good way, considering Joey Porter Jr. and Jamel Dean are the likely starters on the outside barring injury. Samuel has primarily been an outside corner too, and is making noise to see the field in more than backup duty to boot.
It is early, with padded practices just starting this week and plenty more practices left. If Samuel is able to keep making plays on the football regularly, it will be a great “problem” to have with solid CB depth and starter-worthy players. The 2023 data suggests that when fully healthy, it is a smart move to have Samuel on the field considering his knack for making more plays on the football than the majority of his peers.
Porter is also strong in this area, one of 11 corners to match the same feat in 2025 with 11 pass breakups. The only season that Dean had ten pass breakups was way back in 2019, his rookie season. This isn’t meant to discredit him, with many unaware of how good Dean was in coverage last season. But regularly missing time limits his ability to make a list like the chart for this article.
Barring a sudden injury, Samuel will see the field in 2026. How often is the question. His play so far in camp is making noise, no doubt, and will hopefully continue for the Black and Gold. If so, it could be quite the cornerback trio that DC Patrick Graham would be wise to get creative with and get their deserving play onto the field.