The weakest position group for the Steelers last year was off-ball linebacker. In the Steelers' defensive scheme, that's the inside linebacker position.
If you ask me (which I guess you did when you subscribed to this wonderful website), it wasn’t even particularly close.
The trio of Myles Jack (692), Devin Bush (659) and Robert Spillane (588) combined to play 1,939 defensive snaps last year. At a position where you should get the most "splash plays," these three combined to force zero fumbles, had zero fumble recoveries, zero interceptions and one sack. Spillane recorded the only sack, and that occurred in Week 1 against an overmatched Bengals team on a day in which Joe Burrow went down seven times.
Think about that for a minute. That is a ridiculous stretch of off-ball linebackers failing to make or create big plays of any sort.
Jack is currently unemployed. Bush is now in Seattle. And, Spillane is now playing for the Raiders. Changes were needed.
Insert Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts. That is a much-needed transformation. But again, if you ask me, this position is still the worst on the current Steelers roster.
In terms of splash plays last year, Holcomb was responsible for zero forced fumbles, zero fumble recoveries, zero interceptions, and you guessed it, zero sacks. Holcomb only played 446 defensive snaps before his seasons was cut short by a Week 7 injury. Roberts didn’t cause a fumble, recover one or have an interception, but he did record 4.5 sacks last year for Miami. Roberts was on the field for 676 snaps in 2022.
To be honest, I can often take or leave Pro Football Focus' player grades much of the time. But, some positions are stronger indicators than others and the linebacker grades from PFF usually line up very well with what players put on film. Of the 81 qualifying off-ball ‘backers, Holcomb’s 66.6 overall grade was good enough for the 35th best player at his position last season. Bush’s 58.8 came in 54th. Roberts’ 55.0 grade was 63rd. Jack came in at 65th amongst linebackers with a grade of 53.6, and Spillane’s overall grade of 52.5 was good for 69th at this position group.
If we just focus on their run defense grades, Spillane finished 20th, Holcomb was 31st, Roberts was 51st, Bush was 61st and Jack came in at 66th amongst the 81 qualifiers. In coverage, Holcomb was 30th, Bush was 47th, Jack was 54th, Roberts came in 70th and Spillane was 75th, which shouldn’t surprise any of you that watched Spillane try to cover anyone last year or at any point of his career for that matter.
Not good. Obviously. But, should we be concerned?
Sure, it would be nice to have a combination of Jack Ham, Jack Lambert, Levon Kirkland and Ryan Shazier as the Steelers two off-ball linebackers, but this is a problem that much of the NFL is dealing with right now.
There is a shortage of truly elite linebackers, and investing in this position is a questionable and risky decision. Fred Warner is the best player at this position in the league right now. The Ravens look to have found a great one in Roquan Smith. The Colts desperately missed Shaq (formerly Darius) Leonard last year. Bobby Wagner and Lavonte David (both of whom were on the open market this offseason) are very much up in age, but these two probable future Hall of Famers are still playing at an extremely high level. There are other excellent players at this position, including Tremaine Edmunds, who broke the bank in free agency when he signed with Chicago.
But overall, many more teams than not are looking for major upgrades at this position. The reason is simple:
This is just ridiculous. Warner locks down one of the best wide receivers in all of football, CeeDee Lamb, deep down the middle of the field in a crucial down-and-distance situation in a tie game in the playoffs this past year. Against most linebackers, this is a touchdown. Every team in the league is looking for someone like Warner with his route recognition and defensive-back-like hips and fluidity mixed with great play vs. the run, which Warner provides with amazing consistency.
But folks, linebackers like Warner are just so few and far between right now. The key is finding players like Warner, who is incredibly good in this regard, that can do it all. With all the positional groupings, formations, presnap movement and advanced play-calling that NFL defenses deal with nowadays, having linebackers that don’t need to substitute no matter the situation is gold. But they just aren’t plentiful at all. In fact, a very high percentage (see Bush, Devin) of highly-drafted linebackers really struggle, especially in their early years, acclimating to the NFL.
Even Smith and Edmunds, who are listed above, really took time to hit their stride in the league. The list of first-round flops is very extensive. There are far more misses than hits.
Holcomb is an improving player though and the Steelers might have gotten him at a bargain price. It would be surprising if he wasn’t an upgrade over last year’s trio.
This doesn’t look like a tremendous play by Holcomb. And, frankly it isn’t. However, in the early portions of his career, Holcomb was much more athletic (and he is a very gifted athlete) than he was student of the game. When the ball is snapped, Aaron Rodgers looks strongly to his left, but Holcomb doesn’t drift that direction. Instead, he wisely holds his ground and blows up the play by not taking the bait from an all-time great quarterback that excels at manipulating defenses.
So, is it a terrible decision to just punt at the position? It really isn’t the worst idea. Instead of vastly overpaying in free agency or taking a huge risk that more often than not doesn’t pay off in the first round, why not just cut corners on the second level of the defense? Because of the salary cap, teams must make conscience decisions to cut corners at certain spots of their roster and coach and game plan around those deficiencies. For example, during the Dick LeBeau years, the Steelers cut corners at…corner. Instead, they invested in front seven talent, and it worked extremely well.
The Eagles cut corners at linebacker. They have two elite cornerbacks in Darius Slay and James Bradberry, both of whom are making big money, and Philadelphia has obscene talent and riches on their defensive line that they constantly replenish. The Eagles had a whopping 70 sacks last year. Even after losing Javon Hargrave to the 49ers in free agency, they quickly went back to the well in the first round with two Georgia Bulldogs, Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith. Philadelphia also used a first-round pick on, you guessed it, another Georgiadefensive linemen, Jordan Davis, one year ago.
The Eagles drafted another Bulldog in the third round (not a huge investment) a year ago, linebacker Nakobe Dean. Why? Because they basically knew with near certainty that their 2022 starters, T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White, were not going to return in 2023. In free agency, Edwards joined Edmunds with the Bears and White signed in Arizona. Edwards and White aren’t elite talents, but both had very good seasons behind an elite defensive line.
This formula has worked extremely well for the Eagles and could be one the Steelers are mimicking. Remember, with Andy Weidl as assistant general manager, the Steelers do now have some front office ties to their counterpart on the other side of Pennsylvania. And, how about this: The last time Philadelphia drafted a linebacker in the first round was when they used the 21st overall pick on Jerry Robinson…in 1979. The Eagles punt at linebacker.
While Philadelphia looks like a model franchise right now and seems to be a step ahead of much of the league in terms of roster building, their way of doing things isn’t the only way to build a great roster. Having a guy like Warner or Leonard (or Ham or Lambert for that matter) would be terrific. Throwing darts at this position makes sense though, especially in the middle rounds. The 49ers and Colts hit bullseyes (Warner was the 70th pick overall and Leonard went 36th overall in 2018). But overall, cutting corners at linebacker and insulating guys like Holcomb and Roberts (and maybe a mid-round pick next year) with a great defensive front as well as a lot of talent in the secondary is probably the best strategy.
And heck, maybe Mark Robinson can surprise in his second season. He did flash in his 44 snaps last year.
Sure, this is preseason, but it is a promising sign for Robinson, nonetheless. Much like Holcomb early in his career with Washington, Robinson is much more athletic than student of the game at this point. However, in one of his first times on an NFL field, Robinson demonstrates great eyes and decision-making here by not turning and running with the outside threat. Instead, he quickly reads the crossing route and blows it up with authority.
If the Steelers truly have upgraded at cornerback with big physical man-to-man types like Joey Porter Jr. with Minkah Fitzpatrick roaming the deep middle of the field, and T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward leading the pass rush (read more about that here), Teryl Austin shouldn’t have a ton of issues scheming up ways to help Holcomb and Roberts against top receiving running backs and tight ends as well as wide receivers on crossing routes in the middle of the field.
It still could be the team’s biggest weakness and it certainly isn’t ideal, but cutting corners at linebacker isn’t the worst strategy in today’s NFL.
