Keith Butler Talks About Using Haden To Shadow Opposing WRs

When the Pittsburgh Steelers first signed Joe Haden back in August of 2017, it wasn’t immediately obvious how much the team would plan to employ him in the same ways that he saw while he was with the Cleveland Browns, where he made the Pro Bowl two times.

That includes using him to shadow another team’s top wide receiver, which they only ended up doing significantly once or twice in 2017, most notably against DeAndre Hopkins. But it’s become a much more prominent feature of their defense this year, and especially since Artie Burns got demoted.

While not every team actually has a legitimate number one receiver—or one that plays on the boundary—Haden has gotten work shadowing the likes of A.J.…