Now that the 2021 season is over, bringing yet another year of disappointment, a fifth consecutive season with no postseason victories, it’s time to take stock of where the Pittsburgh Steelers stand. Specifically, where Steelers players stand individually based on what we have seen and are seeing over the course of the season and into the offseason as it plays out. We will also be reviewing players based on their previous season and their prospects for the future. A stock evaluation can take a couple of different approaches and I’ll try to make clear my reasoning. In some cases, it will be based on more long-term trends. In other instances, it will be a direct response to something that just happened. Because of this, we can and will see a player more than once over the course of the season as we move forward.
Player: ILB Myles Jack
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The veteran free-agent addition has been looking the part he was brought in to play so far during spring drills, both in his performance and in his establishment within the structure of the team.
In an effort to renovate their inside linebacker room, the Steelers pounced on an opportunity that fell in their lap this offseason when the Jacksonville Jaguars cut loose Myles Jack, their former second-round draft pick who is still in the prime of his career. To make room—both roster and cap—they released the guy they traded for from the Jaguars months prior, Joe Schobert.
While Schobert was dealt a shorthand, being asked to lead the unit after being acquired only in August, Jack, who will have the benefit of a full offseason, seems to be taking the inside linebacker group over as his own. Reports from OTAs and minicamp have been overwhelmingly positive when teammates speak about the impact and influence he has had thus far.
A seventh-year veteran, Jack has 82 starts under his belt and by far the most experienced player in that inside linebacker room. Pittsburgh’s coaching staff is surely hoping that he can have a positive influence on Devin Bush, as well, going into his fourth season. It probably doesn’t hurt that Jack has some experience overcoming serious injury.
Of course you’re not going to paint a full picture of what an inside linebacker is going to be asked to do without having pads on, but reports from the past few weeks have talked about the sort of fluidity of motion that he possesses that once made him a high draft pick.
One can only hope that he will be the boost to both their coverage and run defense that they brought him in to be, especially if they can’t get Bush turned around and headed back in the right direction as far as the future of his time in Pittsburgh goes.
Obviously, it shouldn’t take much for a seventh-year veteran starter to look good in OTAs.
