When the Steelers opened training camp just over a month ago at Heinz Field, depth at inside linebacker was considered a problem. While starters Devin Bush and Vince Williams are as good as if not better than any duo in the AFC North, the guys behind them are largely untested players who have been little more than special teams players.
Now, with the Steelers set to break camp at Heinz Field later this week, while that depth is still largely untested, there’s perhaps more of it than originally met the eye when camp opened.
The Steelers have been working safety Marcus Allen into the equation at inside linebacker, and he, along with second-year player Ulysees Gilbert and special teams ace Robert Spillane give the team options behind Bush and Williams.
Make no mistake, it’s still largely unproven depth. Of the group, Spillane is the only one who saw a defensive snap last season, and he appeared on just one play.
But the Steelers feel Gilbert, a sixth-round pick in 2019, and Allen, a fifth-round selection in 2018, will give them what they need. It appears Gilbert, who missed the second half of his rookie season with a back injury, will be the primary backup at both inside spots, taking a step up the depth chart.
“He’s done a very good job of learning both spots,” inside linebacker coach Jerry Olsavsky said of Gilbert. “He’s done that out there on the field with the calls and things like that. He has a long way to go just in general because of last year, but I like his trajectory.”
Gilbert, a former Akron star, was one of the stars of the team’s preseason a year ago, recording 14 tackles and 1.5 sacks. He then added five tackles on special teams before the back injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season after seven games.
That’s still more experience than Allen has gotten in his two seasons, when he’s spent more time on the practice squad than the active roster.
He’s appeared in just three games, making two tackles. But the Steelers feel the move to linebacker could be a kickstart for the 6-foot-2, 215-pound former Penn State star’s career.
“The biggest thing is if you like playing football how much you like hitting people,” Olsavsky said. “Marcus likes hitting people, so playing linebacker is no problem for him. He hasn’t done a lot of drills over his lifetime to play linebacker, but he’s doing a fine job.
“Bringing Marcus into my room really pumped up the room. It got all the other guys excited. I think it got the defense as a whole excited because now you get to see a guy and say, ‘Wow, that guy can really do some stuff.’ There are things inherently wrong, but the hardest thing about football is running into people. Marcus has no problem doing that, so I have no problem coaching him.”
Both are what teams now look for in inside linebackers. While Gilbert is a little bigger, at 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, his 4.4-speed in the 40-yard dash allows him to excel in coverage. As a converted safety, Allen also brings coverage ability to the table.
That would seem to be the perfect complement to Bush’s skillset. One of the reasons the Steelers moved up in the first round last year to get Bush with the 10th-overall selection was because he was the prototypical run-and-hit linebacker capable of holding up well in coverage.
But, like Allen and Gilbert, he’s not the prototypical run-stuffer at inside linebacker. That’s where Williams excels.
Williams, however, is now the outlier. The backups now are athletically more like Bush than they are Williams.
Unlike a few years ago, when the Steelers had Tyler Matakevich to back up Williams and speedy Ryan Shazier, the Steelers have a group of coverage linebackers on the roster. Gilbert is the most complete of the guys who are backups.
“I just look at it as an opportunity in front of me, and whatever they want me to do I’m going to put my right foot forward and do whatever they want me to do,” he said. "I’m just ready when they call my name. I’m going to continue to work to learn, continue to do better, continue to work on my mistakes so that if my name is called in the future, I’ll be ready.”
