So Who is Mike Mitchell?

When I saw it come across the board the Steelers signed a safety, I had to double check something.

Mike Mitchell… wasn’t that the guy the Raiders took in round two several years ago, and the entire ESPN staff essentially said “who?”

I was correct. Many had him as a very late pick at best. None of that matters now though, I’ve been doing some digging to try to find out more about the Steelers new starting Free Safety.

A lot of people on twitter quickly pointed out that Mitchell missed more tackles than any safety in the NFL last season. The ever popular Pro Football Focus shows that he has a problem with that… However, despite the missed tackles he still had a positive grade in 2013.

Some others pointed out that Mitchell’s signing looks a lot like the Ryan Clark signing so many years ago. Both Clark and Mitchell were relatively young when signing with the Steelers following a breakout season when given a starting opportunity.

Let me say this, missed tackles will be frustrating for sure. But I’ve been saying on this site for months that the Steelers need to go find a coverage specialist to play the FS position.

Troy Polamalu is at his best when he can fly around the field and play in the box a lot. From what I’ve seen of Shamarko Thomas, I think that he’ll be a similar type of safety. I’ve said all along Shamarko is Troy’s backup, not Clarks.

Mitchell will be that guy. His primary responsibility will be in coverage, and from what I’ve gathered that is the strength of his game.

Mitchell despite the missed tackles, can lay some lumber. I for one look forward to have some attitude back in the Steelers defense.

I talked to some Panthers fans to try to get what the general opinion is of Mike Mitchell, and if they were happy or sad to see him go. Here are a few of the quotes I got regarding Mike…

“What the hell are we doing? There better be some big deals coming, because we are losing everything that helped us be so good last year.”

“I’ll pull for him in black and gold. Good luck Mike.”

“Very intense player. He became an emotional leader on the field for our team over the course of the season. He had lame issues with penalties early on, but it wasn’t enough to outweigh the good he does.”

“Quietly a great player. Will work well with Troy. Does his best every play, you guys got a gem my friend.”

“He was probably the brightest spot in our secondary (other than Captains pick-sixes). Keuchly was the brains, but he was the emotion. He plays very aggressive and slowly became a fan favorite, but I think our front seven allowed him to get away with a lot.”

“I’m not sure if he can match the same productivity elsewhere as he was just an extremely good fit in our personnel/system.”

“Plays his heart out on the field and is a hard hitter. After being unsure of his attitude early on he became one of my favorite Panthers on defense. Hope you guys treat him good!”

Pro Football Focus may not love him, but I’ll take the opinion of the guys that watched him play every Sunday, and watched the games with the same passion that Steeler Nation will now that he’s joined the black and gold.