When the Steelers selected Ryan Shazier with their first-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, they did so because they saw changes in the league and the way offenses were being run.
Vertical passing games weren't being used as much as offenses went to more three-step drops and quick passes to slot receivers and tight ends. And so the Steelers figured if they could add an inside linebacker capable of showing up in the running game while also having the ability to cover like a safety, they'd be ahead of the curve.
They needed a player capable of playing sideline to sideline.
"When we drafted Ryan Shazier a few years back, we talked about that," Kevin Colbert said earlier this week. "The game was changing and Ryan was going to be a specific player to try and meet the challenges of modern-day football, and he certainly did that for us."
Shazier, with his 4.4-speed, made the Pro Bowl in 2016 and 2017. But, as we know, Shazier won't be available to the Steelers in 2018, if ever again, after suffering a serious spinal cord injury in a Dec. 4 game at Cincinnati.
A shoulder injury to his backup, Tyler Matakevich, that eventually required surgery left the Steelers short at the position, forcing them to sign Sean Spence and plug him into the lineup next to Vince Williams. The Steelers even had to move outside linebacker Arthur Moats inside to provide depth along with L.J. Fort.
Needless to say, the Steelers head into the NFL Draft, which will be held Thursday through Saturday, looking to add more talent at the position, even after signing veteran free agent Jon Bostic to help replace Shazier.
And finding another player such as Shazier, while picking at the bottom of the first round, won't be easy. The Steelers have the 28th pick in the first round and could see four inside linebackers -- Roquan Smith of Georgia, Tremaine Edmunds of Virginia Tech, Rashaan Evans of Alabama and Leighton Vander Esch of Boise State -- selected before they get an opportunity to take one.
That would leave the Steelers unlikely to take an inside linebacker in the first round. But there are plenty of inside linebackers available in this draft beyond those four.
"The inside linebackers are changing as the college game has changed," Colbert said. "There are probably more kids available in this draft, not just unique to the inside linebacker position, but all defensive and even some of the offensive positions where they may do one thing really well. Maybe they rush the passer better than they cover. Maybe they’re better zone droppers than they are man defenders. Very few of them are really what you’d say are four-down type players. Some of them are two-down, some of them are three-(down), and some of them are one-down players."
If not one of those top four guys, who would be up next on the Steelers' list, most likely in the second or third rounds?
Genard Avery, a player I mentioned as a possible outside linebacker, Josey Jewell of Iowa or Fred Warner of BYU would make a lot of sense in the second round.
Jewell (6-1, 234) doesn't have the sideline-to-sideline speed of Shazier. He ran the 40-yard dash in just 4.82 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine, but he's more quick than fast and makes up for that lack of straight-line speed by having great football instincts.
He used those instincts to finish off his career in Iowa as a four-year starter who posted 134 tackles, 13.5 for loss, 4.5 sacks, two interceptions, 11 pass breakups and one forced fumble in 2017.
"When you get on the field, you’ve got to put your brain toward that, you’ve got to focus on that. It’s no more Mr. Nice Guy," Jewell said at the NFL Scouting Combine. "It’s all football. It’s all technical stuff. It’s all trying to get everybody else out there better, communicating and trying to be a team leader."
Those two are not the only mid-round prospects by any stretch. Because of the way college football has evolved, there are a number of undersized linebackers who played on the outside in college who would fit as speedy inside linebackers with the Steelers.
Darius Leonard of South Carolina State -- the same school that produced Javon Hargrave -- and Jerome Baker of Ohio State would fit into that mold.
Both are undersized -- Leonard is 6-2, 234 pounds, while Baker is is 6-1, 229 -- but are speedy, sideline-to-sideline-type players. But both also have question marks.
Leonard, like Hargrave, played against small school competition, though he played well at the college all-star games. Baker, meanwhile, lacks some of the instincts you'd like to see from an every-down player.
Here are my top-10 Steelers inside linebacker prospects:
INSIDE LINEBACKER
- Roquan Smith, Georgia, 6-1, 236
- Tremaine Edmunds, 6-5, 253, Virginia Tech
- Leighton Vander Esch, 6-4, 256, Boise State
- Rashaan Evans, 6-3, 234, Alabama
- Genard Avery, 6-1, 248, Memphis
- Josey Jewell, 6-1, 234, Iowa
- Fred Warner, 6-3, 227, BYU
- Darius Leonard, 6-2, 234, South Carolina State
- Malik Jefferson, 6-2, 236, Texas
- Jerome Baker, 6-1, 229, Ohio State
Those 10 aren't the only guys in this draft that could help out at the inside linebacker position. But once you get into rounds five and beyond, specialists will be the key.
A pair of solid depth-type players the Steelers should look at in the fifth round are Clemson's Dorian O'Daniel and Central Florida's Shaquem Griffin.
O'Daniel (6-0, 223) might be extremely undersized, but is very active and might be the best pure special teams player in this draft. O'Daniel had 48 career special teams tackles for Clemson, including a ridiculous 19 as a sophomore.
Griffin, meanwhile, became a star at Central Florida despite losing his left hand as a child because of a birth defect. He ran a Shazier-like 4.4 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, matching the time of his twin brother, Shaquille, who was drafted as a defensive back by the Seahawks last year.
Despite having just one hand, he is excellent in coverage.
"I talked with a few teams and they didn't think I was going to be able to gain weight from 227 -- getting a better feel of being a WILL or SAM linebacker, or in a stack, or in a 3-4 where I can be that guy at the line of scrimmage or be a guy who moves around," Griffin said. "I have some teams tell me I move like a DB, well, I've been a DB most of my life. I still have the feet for it, and that's why I was able to be at the Senior Bowl and move and progress at each and every position."
