Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier (50) was the most dynamic of the team's inside linebackers in 2016 - MATT

Steelers

Carter's Classroom final grades: Inside linebackers

By Chris Carter

Feb 1, 2017 • 9:16 pm

4.1K

The Steelers are seeing a steady growth from Ryan Shazier while enjoying the veteran leadership of Lawrence Timmons. Two first-round draft picks play the same position but came to the Steelers during different generations of the defense.

Much can be made of the historic reputation of the Steelers' inside linebackers, but what's most relevant to their current standing is the role they play. Keith Butler uses the inside linebacker position to float around the line of scrimmage as potential triple threats: to drop back in coverage, rush the passer or plug holes in the run scheme.

The range of gaps that inside linebackers are asked to be responsible for is wider than any other position and often that is compounded with the need to be consistently aware of the entire scheme. They are the field generals, communicating adjustments to all.

Timmons has carried the mantle over from the days of James Farrior, and Shazier is a faster version of what Timmons was with Farrior. Let's take a look in the film room to evaluate where they stand after the 2016 season:

LAWRENCE TIMMONS

Timmons is every bit the quiet captain of the front seven when it comes to making sure everyone is in the right position. He's been worth the investments both in draft position and within their salary structure. As one of the last two remaining defensive players from the last Super Bowl victory, his experience becomes invaluable.

Strengths: Seven of their 11 defensive starters are 25 years old or younger. That's a good thing for the future of the team, but youth often brings more problems in schematic breakdowns with miscommunication and mental mistakes.

That's why Timmons' dependability is one of its best assets. Watch how he plays this zone without ever being tugged out of position by the eyes of Eli Manning:

That's the discipline which Timmons has developed. He knows when to stick to his assignment. It pays off here while he shows the athleticism he still has by stretching out to make the play and then flip the field with his return.

Timmons won't fool many quarterbacks by switching any decoy assignments with quick bursts of speed, but it's his consistency that makes him so important. He's rarely out of position, and that can make the difference from containing short passes and run plays to four yards or less, or giving up big plays.

Weaknesses: The biggest criticism that Timmons has faced is that with his age he has lost the speed and explosiveness that made his best plays in his younger days.

That's not a huge problem when he's as consistent as he is, but it has its liabilities.

Watch the play below, as Timmons plays back to be the safety valve for the front seven on a third-and-short situation. Timmons recognizes the play in good time, but he's not quick enough to make the play on a young and fast Ezekiel Elliott:

His footwork is there, and he maintains the wide base needed to take on good running back and breaks down into a solid defensive stance. The problem is that he's not fast enough to close the hole here, and Elliott squirts through.

While that's a legitimate criticism, that's the biggest thing against Timmons. As you can see with the interception, he's still one heck of an athlete.

Value: What can't be shown on film as much is how knowledgeable Timmons is when it comes to keeping the Steelers' schemes together and countering what opponents are trying to do. He has the best eye for recognizing plays of the Steelers' defenders, outside maybe of James Harrison.

As the team pushes forward with its youth on defense, it will still need that consistent presence that can relay communications and be where he's needed to keep the schemes together.

Timmons is not signed going into next season and his talent and knowledge make that a priority to keep him. Signing him to a contract that allows the team to stay on the path to keeping the young talent on their roster after those rookie contracts expire will be one of the biggest challenges for the front office during the offseason.

RYAN SHAZIER

The ultimate X-factor for the linebackers unit is the guy who has the potential to do each aspect of his job as good as anybody in the league. Shazier can be that player, but he requires more consistency in the execution of his assignments. Sometimes his speed puts him too far into an assignment and he overplays his responsibility, leaving his assignment exposed.

Strengths: His raw speed is invaluable at each aspect of the game. When he combines his speed with a correct read of what the offense is doing, it's devastating, at times, to opponents.

Watch this play when he recognizes Richie Incognito pulling to the right side of the offense:

Recognizing when a guard is pulling often allows a linebacker to find where the play is going. Here that's exactly what Shazier does, but what adds to it that few linebackers could is how quickly he gets into the space he needs to cover.

He's on Incognito's inside hip so fast that the former Pro Bowl guard never sees him, and Shazier takes down LeSean McCoy for a minimal gain.

That speed not only makes him hard to locate for linemen, but quarterbacks, as well. Matt Moore found that out when the Dolphins faced the Steelers in the playoffs:

Shazier initially comes up to play the run, biting on the play action. But as he patrols the line of scrimmage, he realizes his mistake and backpedals so quickly that he's back into his zone coverage assignment before Moore can even recognize what has happened.

Only a select few players could pull this off. Not only should you note his speed here, but also take note of how accurate he is with getting back into his assignment.

That's elite stuff.

Weaknesses: The problem is that sometimes that speed gets Shazier into trouble. We saw that in the Cowboys game and in other instances when he would run so far into a gap that he basically takes himself out of a play, or he misunderstands his gap against the run.

Those problems have become more rare, but they're still present and something opponents take advantage of at inopportune moments for the Steelers.

Value: Shazier enters his fourth year with a good value. The team knows his value and how much of a playmaker he can be, and he looks like every bit of the X-factor the defense needs over the next five years. Signing him after next season to a long-term contract will be paramount to this defense's continued rise.

VINCE WILLIAMS

Vince Williams has proven himself to be a reliable backup since his rookie season when he filled in for Larry Foote. He's been a consistent contributor, but also limited in his ability to make big plays at key points for the team.

Strengths: Williams has made his place on the roster for being able to play his role in different schemes without having many lapses. He is a makes solid form tackles and can deliver big hits inside holes that stop most running backs in the league.

He's not extremely fast, but his youth allows him to be able to flow freely around the field and not be schemed against because of his athleticism.

Weaknesses: However some times he faces moments when he's asked to cover a responsibility that tests his limits and they come up short. Watch this play below and see how long it takes for him to get to his spot:

Similarly to Timmons' responsibility against the Cowboys in the aforementioned play, Williams has to discern the direction of the offense and get to the gap. Williams' recognition is not as fast as Timmons, and his athleticism is not as strong as Shazier's to make up for it.

Value: Williams' importance to the team is his ability to be reliable on special teams and fill-in when Timmons or Shazier are out. He's signed through the 2018 season and only takes up $2.5 million in cap space.

The Steelers might have been hoping Williams could develop into the Foote style of player that accompanied Farrior in Timmons in the late 2000's, but he has not been as consistent with this unit as Foote was then. Williams will keep for the time being, but depending on how the Timmons deal goes down, and if it does, his role could on this team could fluctuate, or the team might invest another early round draft pick in the position.

TYLER MATAKEVICH

The rookie late round pick made his way onto the roster with consistent tackling and showing up in training camp and preseason with his solid fundamentals and technique. It was enough to land him special teams duties and a job with the reserves on defense, which speaks to his work ethic to find a spot on the young defense that the Steelers are building.

Strengths: Tyler Matakevich does appear to be football smart in the sense that he's a baller. He's hard-nosed and not afraid to perform any assignment, which makes him a viable option as an inside linebacker.

When Matakevich engages with a ball carrier, he does do a solid job of bringing them down most of the time. That's what made him such a standout at Temple.

Weaknesses: Matakevich still has a lot of polishing to bring, and that can come only with experience. Watch how he has a similar responsibility as Williams did on the play before, but can't get to his gap either:

The difference here is that the Dolphins had a bigger tell as to what their scheme was, and that was their pulling left guard. Matakevich needed to see that and react quicker to get to the ball.

The biggest note on Matakevich's game was that he was not explosive or fast in any NFL sense when it comes to inside linebackers. That will put more of an onus on his ability to read offenses for him to make more of his NFL career. His feet aren't as fast and he's not able to make as many quick adjustments as other linebackers.

Value: Being a rookie that came extremely late in the draft, Matakevich's value has a lot of upside. All he has to do is work on his game and continue to improve his fundamentals in recognizing what offenses are doing and meshing it with what he knows are his assignments.

The rest of the game will come to him if he keeps working on it. If the Steelers don't choose to renew Williams' contract after 2018, Matakevich could become the new backup to the inside linebacker position.

OVERVIEW

The Steelers have two talented starters, but one who needs to be signed this year and the other to be signed after the following season. Timmons' age makes for a question of when to re-invest a high pick at a position of prime importance.

But for now, the Steelers have solid depth behind their starters and the opportunity to keep this unit together for the foreseeable future. If the team makes the right improvements at other positions, the strengths of Shazier and Timmons will be magnified and either or both could become the well recognized defenders to any NFL fan.