Cameron Sutton
Cameron Amir Sutton (born February 27, 1995) is an American football cornerback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Tennessee, and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
No. 1 – Detroit Lions | |||||||||||
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Position: | Cornerback | ||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
Born: | Jonesboro, Georgia, U.S. | February 27, 1995||||||||||
Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||
Weight: | 180 lb (82 kg) | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
High school: | Jonesboro | ||||||||||
College: | Tennessee | ||||||||||
NFL Draft: | 2017 / Round: 3 / Pick: 94 | ||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||
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Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||
Career NFL statistics as of Week 18, 2022 | |||||||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com · PFR |
Early years
Sutton attended Jonesboro High School in Jonesboro, Georgia.[1] He played cornerback and wide receiver for the Cardinal football team and had 1,396 all-purpose yards and 19 touchdowns as a senior. He also played baseball and basketball in high school. Sutton was rated by Rivals.com as a three-star recruit.[2] He committed to the University of Tennessee to play college football under head coach Butch Jones.[3]
College career
Sutton started in all 12 games as a true freshman in 2013 and recorded 39 tackles, two interceptions, one sack, and a touchdown.[4] He started all 13 games in the 2014 season, recording 37 tackles and three interceptions.[5]
Professional career
Sutton received an invitation to the Senior Bowl and raised his draft stock after impressing scouts during practice and showing versatility and willingness for playing both safety and cornerback during the game. He helped the South secure a 16–15 victory over the North and led the team with four combined tackles.[6] He attended the NFL Combine and completed nearly all of the combine drills, but opted to not perform the short shuttle. Sutton also participated in Tennessee's Pro Day and chose to run the short shuttle, three-cone drill, and perform positional drills for representatives and scouts in attendance.[7] The majority of NFL draft experts and analysts projected Sutton to be drafted in the third round. He was ranked the 15th best cornerback in the draft by ESPN and NFLDraftScout.com.[8]
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
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5 ft 11+1⁄4 in (1.81 m) |
188 lb (85 kg) |
30 in (0.76 m) |
8+1⁄4 in (0.21 m) | 4.52 s | 1.53 s | 2.62 s | 4.23 s | 6.81 s | 34 in (0.86 m) | 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) | 11 reps | |
All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day[9][7][10] |
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Sutton in the third round (94th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.[11] The Pittsburgh Steelers also drafted his teammate at Tennessee and the Senior Bowl, quarterback Joshua Dobbs.[12]
2017
On June 13, 2017, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Sutton to a four-year, $3.21 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $736,128.[13]
He entered training camp competing with William Gay, Coty Sensabaugh, and Mike Hilton for a backup cornerback position. On September 4, 2017, the Steelers placed Sutton on injured reserve after he aggravated a hamstring injury during the Steelers' final preseason game against the Carolina Panthers.[14]
Although Sutton wore jersey No. 20 throughout the preseason, he sold it to Robert Golden after newly acquired free agent Joe Haden bought Golden's No. 21 from him. Sutton opted to wear No. 34 for his rookie season.[15]
On October 31, Sutton returned to practice for the first time since his injury. The Steelers had 21 days to decide whether to activate Sutton or keep him on the injured reserve list for the remainder of the season.[16] On November 21, 2017, the Pittsburgh Steelers activated Sutton off injured reserve.[17] On December 4, 2017, Sutton made his professional regular season debut after he replaced Coty Sensabaugh at left cornerback in the second half against the Cincinnati Bengals. Sensabaugh was pulled after Bengals' receiver A. J. Green made seven catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. Sutton held Green to no catches and deflected a pass to help the Steelers overcome a 17-point deficit and defeat the Bengals 23–20.[18] In Week 14, Sutton recorded two solo tackles in a 39–38 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. On December 17, 2017, he earned his first career start in place of Joe Haden, who was still recovering from a fractured fibula sustained in Week 10. In his first start, Sutton recorded a season-high three combined tackles in a 27–24 loss to the New England Patriots. Haden returned the following week and Sutton reverted to a reserve role for the last two games of the regular season. He finished his rookie season with five combined tackles (four solo) and a pass deflection in five games and one start.[19]
2018
Sutton was able to revert to No. 20 after Robert Golden was released by the Steelers on March 14, 2018.
During the Week 1 opener at division rival Cleveland. Sutton made his first career interception off a pass by Browns quarterback Tyrod Taylor.[20] In Week 5 against Atlanta, Sutton recorded a season-high five combined tackle in the Steelers' 41-17 blowout victory. A week later against Cincinnati, he made another five tackles and added a pass deflection as the Steelers won 28–21. Sutton's snaps would be diminished until Week 13 in a 17–10 win against the eventual Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots.
2019
Sutton's season started very quietly during the Steelers' slide to 1–4. In a Week 6 prime time game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sutton Intercepted a pass off Philip Rivers and returned it for 26 yards to secure the victory.[21] He would finish the night with one interception, three passes defensed, and once tackle, his best performance of the year. During the Steelers' 21–7 loss against the Cleveland Browns in Week 10, Sutton returned his first punt of the season for 8 yards. The Steelers finished the season with an 8–8 record, missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
2020
In Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns, Sutton recorded his first interception of the season off a pass thrown by Baker Mayfield during the 38–7 win.[22]
Detroit Lions
On March 16, 2023, Sutton was signed to a three-year, $33 million contract with the Detroit Lions.[25]
References
- Mahone, Derrick (September 22, 2014). "Cameron Sutton looking forward to his homecoming". Clayton News Daily. BLOX Content Management System. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
- Rivals.com
- Goldberg, Charles (January 13, 2013). "DB Cameron Sutton still committed to Tennessee, but says he's considering Auburn after visit". The Birmingham News. Auburn, Alabama: Advance Publications. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
- Brown, Patrick (March 9, 2014). "Vols' Sutton not resting on freshman success". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Knoxville, Tennessee: WEHCO Media. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
- Brown, Patrick (July 15, 2015). "Cameron Sutton not worried about being overlooked". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Hoover, Alabama: WEHCO Media. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
- Rihannon Potkey (January 29, 2017). "Tennessee Vols Joshua Dobbs, Cameron Sutton Help South Win Senior Bowl". usatoday.com. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
- "Cameron Sutton, DS No. 15 CB, Tennessee". DraftScout.com. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
- Jeff Legwold (April 22, 2017). "Ranking 2017 Draft's Top 100 Prospects". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
- "Cameron Sutton Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
- "Cam Sutton 2017 NFL Draft Profile". insider.espn.com. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
- "Steelers select Sutton in the third round". Steelers.com. April 28, 2017.
- "2017 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
- "Spotrac.com: Cameron Sutton contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
- "Roster moves continue for Steelers". Steelers.com. September 4, 2017. Archived from the original on September 4, 2017. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
- Ed Bouchette (September 6, 2017). "Mike Mitchell said no, so Joe Haden bought Robert Golden's number instead". post-gazette.com. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
- Ray Fittipaldo (October 31, 2017). "Rookie Cameron Sutton returns to Steelers practice, but what now?". post-gazette.com. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- "Steelers activate Sutton from IR". Steelers.com. November 21, 2017.
- "Five Things We Learned from Steelers Win Over Bengals". TribLive.com. December 5, 2017.
- "NFL Player stats: Cameron Sutton (2017)". NFL.com. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
- "PIT_AT_CLE Gamebook WK 1, 2018" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on September 13, 2018.
- "Steelers at Chargers Week 6 Gamelog". Archived from the original on October 30, 2019.
- "Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers - October 18th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
- Pryor, Brooke (March 15, 2021). "Cornerback Cam Sutton, Pittsburgh Steelers agree on two-year, $9 million contract, source says". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
- Varley, Teresa (March 21, 2021). "Sutton signed to a two-year contract". Steelers.com. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
- "Lions sign unrestricted free agent CB Cameron Sutton". DetroitLions.com. March 16, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023.