How far out of favor with the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff has fourth-year outside linebacker Chris Carter fallen?
It appears far enough that new linebacker Arthur Moats is continuing to get reps with the first-team defense at the left outside linebacker spot with starter Jason Worilds still on the sidelines nursing a calf injury, according to a Wednesday report by Scott Brown of ESPN.com.
This news is, of course, two-fold as it could mean that the team is really happy with how fast Moats is picking things up. Remember, Moats spent most of his time playing inside during his four seasons with the Buffalo Bills after playing defensive end in college at James Madison.
Still, one would hope that it would’ve taken Moats at least a little time to overtake Carter on the depth chart.
Carter just hasn’t ever been able to put it all together since being drafted by the Steelers in the fifth-round of the 2011 NFL Draft out of Fresno State. In his first three seasons with the Steelers, Carter has played a total of 235 snaps on defense during which he has recorded all of 16 total tackles and zero sacks.
In 2012, Carter started the first three games of the regular season due to James Harrison and Worilds both being slowed by injuries, but he failed to show that he was up for that test. As a result, he only played one more defensive snap the rest of the season and it was a kneel down play to close out the win over the Washington Redskins.
The Steelers depth at the outside linebacker position certainly doesn’t sound too encouraging right now. In addition, both Worilds and fellow starter Jarvis Jones aren’t going to be confused as proven commodities just yet. Hopefully, both can stay healthy in 2014.
