Former Panthers receiver dismissive of Steven Nelson’s contribution to the Chiefs
Former Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith Sr. was a guest on “Good Morning Football” on Tuesday morning, and the discussion on the NFL Network show turned to the Chiefs.
Specifically, the defense, which didn’t have much success against the Patriots in the AFC championship game.
Smith said: “The defense didn’t show up. They got Tyrann Mathieu, they let go of Eric Berry, they let go of...”
He paused and the “Good Morning Football” co-hosts mentioned Justin Houston was released and the Chiefs traded Dee Ford.
But Smith continued: “I’m talking about the back half (of the defense). Steve Nelson, though he didn’t really cover very many people anyway.”
Twitter user LordChiefRocka shared this clip:
That seems harsh.
Pro Football Focus ranked Nelson 21st among all cornerbacks in the NFL last season. Michael Renner of PFF wrote: “He may have allowed the second-most yards of any cornerback in the NFL (825), but it’s only because he was targeted eight times more than any corner in the league. His 53.1 percent catch rate and 76.8 passer rating allowed show how good Nelson really was this year.”
Last month, Nelson signed a three-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This story was originally published April 16, 2019 at 1:57 PM.
