Beat Writer Predicts Mike Hilton Will Start In Slot

[polamalubeast]

There is a surprising number of Pittsburgh Steelers fans who want the team to move on from William Gay, preferring to see him off the 53-man roster in a few days. I don’t suspect that they are going to get their wish. But they may be partially appeased if the prognostication of one beat writer is to be believed.

Writing for the Observer-Reporter, Dale Lolley wrote in an article yesterday that he believes the Steelers are preparing to have first-year cornerback Mike Hilton in the slot this season as their nickel back, and that they will bring Gay onto the field when they are in the dime defense.

I would imagine that most believed that this would work the other way around, and I would be placed squarely in that group. Hilton has very little experience working against starting wide receivers even in practice, after all, while Gay has not necessarily fallen off a cliff.

Still, they opened last season with a rookie safety as their starting nickel back, so whatever happens this season would have to be viewed as an improvement. Because Artie Burns was not ready to play at the start of the season, they had to use Gay as an outside cornerback.

Lolley does provide a sound rationale for why they might favor Hilton over Gay in the slot to start the season. “That defense would give the team a lot of blitzing options as Hilton has shown a nice ability to get there from the slot”, he writes, “and Gay is savvy enough to do so as well or help cover for inside linebacker Ryan Shazier if he blitzes”.


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http://www.steelersdepot.com/2017/08...medium=twitter

[Born2Steel]

Interesting.....go on....

[Rotorhead]

I certainly do not think the team should cut Gay as I think he could fill in at any slot in the backfield (safety included) so there is definately value in keeping him through this season.