Kevin Gorman: Steelers' Sean Davis takes pride in being last line of defense

Sean Davis is playing his third position in as many seasons in the Pittsburgh Steelers secondary, shifting from cornerback as a rookie to strong safety last year to free safety this season.

Davis has made it his goal to get better each year, except for one area: After leading the team with 90 tackles last season, he wants no encore.

"I hope not," Davis said, with a laugh, "because that would be a bad thing."

Morgan Burnett understands the logic of his safety sidekick. Davis is now the last line of defense, so if he's making a lot of tackles, that spells trouble for the Steelers secondary.

"That means you're getting gassed," Burnett said. "As a defense, you don't want your free safety leading in tackles. That's the mentality: You want to stop the run. You want to eliminate those explosive gains and, at the same time, those explosive pass plays."

Davis knows something about giving up those explosive pass plays, as Tom Brady connected with tight end Rob Gronkowski for gains of 26, 26 and 17 yards with Davis in coverage on the winning drive in the Patriots' 28-24 victory over the Steelers in December.

That game exposed Davis to a degree, but the third-year veteran is the Steelers' most experienced returning player at safety entering Saturday's preseason game against the Tennessee Titans at Heinz Field.

The team parted ways with Mike Mitchell, Robert Golden and J.J. Wilcox, then signed free agents Burnett from the Packers and Nat Berhe from the Giants and also drafted Terrell Edmunds out of Virginia Tech in the first round and Marcus Allen out of Penn State in the fifth.

That didn't stop Davis from taking Edmunds under his wing.

"He understands the whole defense," Edmunds said. "He's been helping me out since he's played a lot of positions in the secondary. He's really been a vet back there. He's fast. He's a long, rangy guy. He knows the defense, and he knows the game. He's smart out there, calling out things before they even happen. I see him being an instinctive player."

Where Davis has a sense of seniority in the secondary, those moves also sent a message that no starter's job is safe. Edmunds is versatile enough to play either safety spot and is pushing for a starting job. The Steelers are as invested in Davis having a strong season as he is.

But Davis, a cornerback and strong safety at Maryland and in his first two seasons with the Steelers, hadn't played free safety since he attended Maret School in Washington, D.C.

"When they told me I was playing free, I went back and watched some old high school tape just to see how I move fluidly," Davis said. "I think it helped a lot, just to see how I was smoothly reading the quarterback. I felt that was where I was most natural at, so I feel like I learned a lot."

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin considers the safety positions interchangeable, and Davis doesn't disagree. But Davis believes his background has helped his transition from strong to free, and that is as evident to the ears as it is the eyes of his teammates.

"Sean is a guy that's loud and decisive with his communication," Burnett said. "When you've got a guy that's going to communicate, that really helps -- not just the back end but the defense as a whole. Watching the way he works and the way he competes, it's a lot of fun."

Davis enjoys directing traffic and making sure his teammates know everything from the down and distance and play call to the personnel and packages. One of the strengths of his versatility is that he stays on the field every play and can be used as a safety or a corner in certain subpackages.

"Even though I've been playing different positions, I feel it's made me have a better understanding of the defense," Davis said. "I now know what everyone's doing. I've played three positions out of the DBs, so when I'm back there, I can get people lined up fast and get everyone on the same page. ... So I've got to do a lot pre-snap, which might be different from strong, but just being able to fly around and get guys lined up and make plays on the ball deep is something I'm loving to do.

"I take pride in being the last line of defense."

So long as Davis is not making too many tackles.