Brice McCain Signs 1 Year Deal With Steelers

Anyone know anything about this guy?



Cornerback Brice McCain lasted just one season under a three-year, $5.25 million contract signed with the Houston Texans last March.

Now the five-year veteran has signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, agent David Canter reported Tuesday. The team later confirmed the one-year deal.

McCain, 27, is coming off the worst season of his career. He was toasted by Eddie Royal in the 2013 season opener and continued to struggle the rest of the way.

At 5-foot-9 and less than 190 pounds, he's purely a slot corner and special teamer

Read more: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000338666/article/brice-mccain-to-sign-with-pittsburgh-steelers


  

Whyant5 wrote:

Anyone know anything about this guy?

Quote :

McCain, 27, is coming off the worst season of his career. He was toasted by Eddie Royal in the 2013 season opener and continued to struggle the rest of the way.

Camp body.  

You mean camp fodder?

Maybe a ST's ace?

He was rated the WORST starting CB in the NFL last year out of 110 qualifiers by Pro Football Focus. Awful signing.

McCain had a tough year last year, as did the rest of the Texans team with the exception of JJ Watt. And when a team stinks it up to the degree the Texans did, there will be changes in personnel and McCain found himself holding the short straw.

The signing of McCain is similar to the signing of Heyward-Bey on two points. Speed and money. The Steelers found a veteran guy with lots of speed for very little money. Is he the second coming of Deion Sanders? No, otherwise he wouldn’t be on the Steelers roster. So there’s some damage in his history that allowed the Steelers to pick the guy up for next to nothing.

Is McCain a failure at CB? I doubt it.  In reviewing the six touchdowns he let up in 2013 I really didn’t see anything in those plays that showed he was a bad CB. Yes, there were a few that McCain could have played better. But I also saw a bad defense and safeties who didn’t stay in position (similar to the Steelers last year), which make the CBs look bad.

The more I think of how McCain looked last year, the more I’m reminded of Willie Gay in his first years with Pittsburgh. Remember a few years back there were people calling for Willie to be run out of town? Everyone talks about CBs being out on an island and we think of the Ike Taylors or Rod Woodsons who often covered the outside receivers. Well, being a nickel corner has to be just as lonely. Often the nickel covers the receiver in the slot. In that position, with the receiver lined up closer to the middle of the field than the outside receiver, the CB can’t use the sideline to his advantage. The receiver has many more route options, which is difficult to defend. My point is McCain was playing on a bad team and normally lined up against the slot receiver, which is a tough scenerio to come out of looking good.

McCain also plays special teams and again, his speed gets him downfield in a hurry. I’m sure the coaches are looking at their roster and trying to decide how many backup defensive backs also excel on special teams. This is the role I see him playing, depth in the secondary with an upgrade on special teams.

I have no clue if McCain or Heyward-Bey will make the 53 man squad this year. But they paid next to nothing for two veteran players who have speed, a certain amount of talent, and can play special teams. If it doesn’t work out, that means another player has proved himself to be better and you lost nothing for it. And I'm sure these two guys will be highly motivated to turn their careers around. Failing to make the Steelers 53 man squad could result in the end of their playing days.

I agree with what you are saying, but I've never seen the Steelers "roll the dice" as they are right now. It's like a philosophy of throwing darts at a dartboard and hoping you get lucky and one sticks. It just isn't the Steeler way, they've always cultivated through the draft, but then again going 500 for two seasons in a row could lead to some differing behavior....soooo  

kirklandrules wrote:

I have no clue if McCain or Heyward-Bey will make the 53 man squad this year. But they paid next to nothing for two veteran players who have speed, a certain amount of talent, and can play special teams. If it doesn’t work out, that means another player has proved himself to be better and you lost nothing for it. And I'm sure these two guys will be highly motivated to turn their careers around. Failing to make the Steelers 53 man squad could result in the end of their playing days.

That's a good way of looking at it. I'm not sure if I completely agree, Kirk, but I can appreciate the optimism.