“It’s great,” Thornhill said. “I’m on the better side, that’s all that matters. I’m on the better side now, you know, to the dark side. I’m excited about this opportunity. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
Thornhill is happy to be on the better side in Pittsburgh, but the Steelers hope he can be on the better side of his 2024 production. Despite having a pretty solid start to his career in Kansas City, Thornhill really struggled in Cleveland. In 2024, he allowed a 64.0 percent completion rate and a 141.7 passer rating when targeted. He did make 49 tackles, but wasn’t too efficient, missing 9.3 percent of his attempts. Thornhill also only played in just 57 percent of the Browns’ total defensive snaps, by far the lowest rate of his career.
Juan Thornhill clearly doesn’t have a positive view on his time in Cleveland. Earlier this offseason, he stated he was excited to get some revenge against his former team and hinted about being upset with unfair criticism from their fans, as he was playing injured.
To be fair to him, he was part of a team that had plenty of issues as a whole. However, that’s now behind him, and his next job is to solidify his spot in the Steelers’ secondary, which remains up in the air. If Jalen Ramsey were to stick at cornerback, Thornhill would seem to be the starting safety, alongside DeShon Elliott. However, on Wednesday, Steelers GM Omar Khan mentioned that he wouldn’t rule out the idea of bringing in another safety. That could signal that the front office isn’t completely satisfied with the room.
We also don’t know where Jalen Ramsey is going to end up. During the first play of 11-on-11 drills Thursday, Ramsey lined up at nickel corner. Then, he moved back to safety for a couple of plays. The Steelers clearly value his positional versatility, and there’s a good chance he spends time all around the secondary.
Those storylines may complicate things for Juan Thornhill. However, he seems to feel he’s in a better place now. He’s certainly with an organization with more stability and is playing with more talent around him. But he’s still got to prove his time with Cleveland was an outlier.