Follow Us:

[TDJets72027]

Troy Polamalu is the first name that comes to most people's minds when talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers' secondary. The former first-round pick is arguably the best in the league at his position -- and has redefined what it means to be a strong safety. That the Steelers just made Polamalu one of the NFL's highest-paid safeties is more proof of his importance to his team.

But while Polamalu is doing his pre-snap thing -- dancing between the linebackers, faking the blitz, pretending to drop in coverage ... it can all be very dizzying -- someone has to have his back. For 2004 and 2005, that somebody was free safety Chris Hope. Hope left for Tennessee last off-season and there was some concern that the defense -- and Polamalu in particular -- would suffer.

Yeah, that didn't happen. The team signed Ryan Clark, maybe one of the most underrated defenders in the league, and used a third-round pick on Syracuse safety Anthony Smith. Smith played mostly on special teams early in the year, but when Clark went down with an injury, Smith made the seamless transition to starting free safety.

Coming out of college, Smith was known as a big hitter, but not particularly fast. You'd never know it to watch him play. He had two picks last year, and several memorable hits. (Well, I can remember them; I'm pretty sure T.J. Houshmandzadeh has no recollection). Now, a week into training camp, Smith is still knocking the crap out of people (apparently, he doesn't discriminate based on team affiliation).

Bottom line: Ryan Clark is as steady as they come and could still win the job out of training camp, but it's only a matter of time before Smith and Polamalu are teaming up to terrorize AFC North quarterbacks.

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/tag/30ToWatch/