Steelers Unlikely 2022 Defensive Leader, Relentless Slot CB Arthur Maulet’s Angry Play Has Been Key to his Improvement

It all started with an impressive Week 1 performance and Maulet hasn’t looked back since. He made a couple big plays to put the Steelers in great position, but none bigger than the strip sack he had on Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow. We’re a long way away from Week 1, but Maulet is still making some big plays especially against the run. The Steelers’ defense is currently ranked 6th in the NFL against the run and Maulet has definitely had his hand in the pile. Maulet plays with a chip on his shoulder and is just a scrappy and tough “little guy.”

Maulet’s play style and personality that he attributes to his upbringing has given him the nickname of “Angry Man.”

“It’s funny,” Maulet said in a chat with reporters Thursday via Trib Live, “my rookie year, (NFL veteran) Ted Ginn gave me a nickname in New Orleans. He was like, ‘I’m gonna call you Angry Man.’”

“So everybody was calling me ‘Angry Man’ for like two years. I’m like, ‘Bro, oh my gosh, whatever.’ And so, I guess I lived up to my nickname of being an Angry Little Man that plays in the slot.”

Maulet was asked where the chip on his shoulder that he plays on the field with comes from.

“I think just my journey,” he stated. “I think anybody who reads my story knows how I’m wired. They can tell, ‘Yeah, this guy’s going to be pretty passionate about what he does.’ I think that’s just my story of my upbringing.”

Not only has Maulet’s play improved this year, he’s stepped up as the team’s unlikely leader on the defensive side of the ball. Especially, after a horrible 38-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 5.

Some fans had issue with it, but we want this! We want the players to be angry about losing games, especially in that fashion. LB Myles Jack stood up for Maulet after he faced a little criticism for the response.

“You want that,” Jack stated via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Everyone reacts to different scenarios in different ways. You want emotion. You want fire. You want people to be [ticked] off. If everyone was in here laughing and giggling, it would be embarrassing.”

Maulet’s toughness can be magnetic, just ask Steelers’ Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin, who spoke highly of him at the beginning of the season.

“Art is a really physical, good blitzer, plays with an edge, plays with an attitude,” Austin said. “You have to have that in those guys, and those guys help your team because they play bigger than their size. They just help you all along with your team toughness.”

Maulet led the Steelers defensive in tackles last week against the Indianapolis Colts tallying 10 total tackles, 5 solos, 1 sack, and 1 tackle for loss. Maulet was brought in on subpackages almost exclusively against the run against the Colts and he excelled! The Steelers take on one of the league’s best rushing attacks in the Atlanta Falcons and do-it-all RB Cordarrelle Patterson. The team could really benefit from another “Angry Little Man who plays in the slot” kind of performance from Maulet and the rest of the Steelers’ run defense!