Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Bud Dupree is currently hard at work getting his body ready for the 2016 season and the teams 2015 first-round draft pick has one element of his game that he’s really looking to improve in his second year in the NFL.
“I try to focus on explosion,” Dupree recently told Teresa Varley of steelers.com. “I try to use my get-off as an advantage and my speed and quickness. I try to be the most explosive person on the field. I want to work on getting faster, stronger.”
Dupree’s get-off was his calling card when he played at Kentucky and while he started his rookie year off with two sacks in the Steelers first two games of the season, he would only go on to register two more the rest of the way.
“I learned about going through adversity,” Dupree said of his rookie season. “We went through it the whole season and overcame it. Myself in college I didn’t play as long. Here the season is real long. I now know what to look forward to next year. You have to experience it and go through it. I also learned about being in shape. The shape level is two different levels, from college to the pros. You have to take care of your body.”
The Steelers really need to get a lot more production out of their outside linebackers in 2016 as not only did that unit only register 15 sacks combined in 2015, the league also only credited that group with a total of 36 quarterback hurries over the course of the regular season.
Dupree figures to be the Steelers starting left outside linebacker in 2016 after ending his rookie season with that designation on the team’s depth chart. However, veteran outside linebacker Arthur Moats is currently expected to see some snaps on that side this year just as he did in 2015.
Dupree recently posted this video of him doing drills on his Twitter account.
