DeMarcus Van Dyke Likely To Be Active In The Coming Weeks

It was reported late Sunday that Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor may have suffered fibula injury in the Sunday win over the Baltimore Ravens that could keep him out for 2-6 weeks. Should that indeed be the case the Steelers cornerback situation will obviously change.

Second-year cornerback Cortez Allen replaced Taylor in the base defense and that will be the plan moving forward. Allen had three passes defensed in relief of Taylor, but his pass interference penalty and failed coverage on Anquan Boldin that resulted in a touchdown made his play uneven on the night.

When the Steelers went to their nickel package second-year cornerback Curtis Brown entered the game and played outside on most of his snaps with Allen continuing to play his nickel slot role that he has played all season long. This too is expected to be the plan moving forward.

With Taylor likely to be sidelined indefinitely we will likely see cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke now dress in his place as the fourth cornerback on gamedays. Van Dyke is regarded generally as an outside corner, so we have likely seen the last of the seldom used dime package at least initially. In the event that they do play dime, Brown very well might be the one to move inside with Van Dyke playing the outside spot in those situations.


(steelersdepot.com)