Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers are deep into the season, it’s time to take stock of where the team stands. Specifically, where Steelers players stand individually based on what we have seen and are seeing over the course of the regular season as it plays out. A stock evaluation can take a couple of different approaches and I’ll try to make clear my reasoning for each one. 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 Mark Robinson
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The inside linebacker got by far his longest look of the season on Sunday, seeing defensive snaps for only the second time, and a helmet for just the fourth. The seventh-round pick technically started the game and logged 26 defensive snaps, exactly half of the total, registering his first defensive statistics with seven tackles.
I’m not sure if there’s a player Steelers fans are happier for, or happier to see, right now than rookie seventh-round inside linebacker Mark Robinson. Perhaps that has something to do with who they’re not seeing, as well.
Having allowed the Baltimore Ravens to rush for over 200 yards the last time they played a few weeks earlier, the Steelers decided to do some tinkering, going heavy on the front and installing thumpers at linebacker. Devin Bush likely would not have even played on defense in the game at all if Myles Jack had not been hurt.
Robinson was the beneficiary of all this, logging 26 defensive snaps, or half of the team’s total, and registering seven tackles in the process. He only had five defensive snaps all season prior to Sunday, having dressed for three games and only seeing special teams time in one of them—none at all in another.
But they got a good look at him all throughout the summer. They saw his motor during the preseason. They’re still waiting for his mind to catch up to his body, but they like the way he throws his body around, and that’s what he’s shown so far in meaningful games.
I frankly wasn’t expecting to see the Steelers pull this move, but at this point, we can’t be surprised if it continues. After all, the Cleveland Browns are another run-first team who ran the ball very well against them earlier this year, and they know job number one for a victory has to be stopping the run.
They seem to think Robinson can offer more in that department than can Bush. And the rookie didn’t really do anything on Sunday that would have them screaming to get him off the field.
