Mark Kaboly Thinks Steelers Will Nonetheless Add A Security: ‘Speak About Not Doing Your Due Diligence’

The Steelers opened a major hole at safety by trading Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Mark Kaboly doesn’t believe they’ve closed it. Although they have veteran starter Juan Thornhill on the roster, he needs convincing that is their answer. The safety position is thin now in general, as a matter of fact, so why not take a gander around?

“I don’t think Omar [Khan]’s done yet with safety”, Kaboly said of the Steelers’ plans on 93.7 The Fan. “You talk about not doing your due diligence of trying to improve a defense and create competition by just handing a starting job to Juan Thornhill, who had a below-average season last year?”.

Aside from DeShon Elliott and Thornhill, the Steelers’ safety group doesn’t much move the needle. The most notable name is Miles Killebrew, but that’s almost exclusively for special teams. When he plays on defense, it’s generally due to injuries—often numerous injuries. When they lost two starters in 2023, they moved Patrick Peterson to safety and promoted Eric Rowe from the practice squad rather than have him play.

In addition to Killebrew, the Steelers also have rookie college free agent Sebastian Castro and Quindell Johnson at safety. While Castro is an interesting name, he doesn’t exactly have the range of a free safety. Johnson is a recent addition, who played 35 snaps in 2023 and none last year.

“I mean, that has to be on their mind”, Kaboly said of the Steelers upgrading the safety position. “Maybe it’s not now; maybe it’s in August when they cut some people or they can move some people around. But you would have to believe that that’s something that they’re really looking at right now”.

Unless the Steelers view Jalen Ramsey as a full-time safety—a move he previously expressed interest in toward the end of his career—they may be wise to take a peek at their options. As Kaboly suggests, it would reflect an absence of due diligence if they chose not to. With Johnson worryingly close to a backup spot, why wouldn’t they want to explore all options?

There are still some notable names out there at safety for the Steelers to consider, like Justin Simmons, for example. He is a player who, at least theoretically, they could sign and have start right away. When they traded for Minkah Fitzpatrick, he started less than a week later.

Kaboly is far from alone in believing the Steelers need to look at their options at safety. Outside of perhaps wide receiver, it is by far the biggest hole on the roster for 2025. You don’t trade a starter just before training camp without replacing him and think that nothing will be amiss.

Unless that is, of course, that the Steelers believe Jalen Ramsey can be their new starting safety. My guess is they want to see just how many hats the man can wear, but how often will he do the safety dance?