James Pierre may not have seen much time participating on the defensive side of the ball during the 2020 season, but the second-year Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back did spend a good deal of time on the field. He became a plus special teams player across 227 snaps during his rookie season as a college free agent out of Florida Atlantic.
Head coach Mike Tomlin believes that he can build off of that experience, not just for Danny Smith, but as a defensive player, also offering that historically, most players who start out as consistent performers on special teams demonstrate the ability to do so on offense and defense as well.