The Pittsburgh Steelers are back in the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex earlier than they had anticipated, having been ousted before they even reached the postseason, which unfortunately marks the sixth consecutive season in which they failed to win a postseason game—tying their longest drought of the Super Bowl era. Yet again, they find themselves undergoing the exit meeting process earlier than anticipated, which means so are we.
The Steelers did arguably perform at or above expectations this year by going 9-8 and nearly making the postseason at all, a reflection of just how much talent they lost during the offseason, from Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Haden to most of their wide receiver room, not to mention Stephon Tuitt’s decision to retire.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between head coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2022 season.
Player: Mark Robinson
Position: ILB
Experience: 1 Year
For the first time in his career as a full-time member of the 53-man roster, Marcus Allen played zero defensive snaps in 2022. Even as a rookie, still playing safety, he recorded 18 snaps on defense in two games played. After spending almost all of the 2019 season on the practice squad, however, he moved to linebacker, regained his place on the roster, and logged over 200 snaps in 2020.
In the process, he also reinvented himself as a special teamer. He logged over 300 snaps there in 2021, and 230 last season in 15 games played. But, as mentioned, zero snap came on defense (he managed 62 snaps on defense a year earlier).
And it wasn’t because everybody remained healthy at inside linebacker all year. Robert Spillane, Devin Bush, and Myles Jack all dealt with injuries at some point, and even rookie seventh-round pick Mark Robinson ending the season with 44 defensive snaps played.
Unfortunately for the Penn State alum, his most memorable moment of the year, and perhaps of his football career, was an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Carolina Panthers when he walked up to the opposing team’s huddle and had a thing or two to say. I won’t go into the justifications made for it by teammates in hindsight.
Allen suffered torn biceps in late December that required surgery. He is an unrestricted free agent now and isn’t likely to sign with anyone anytime soon. It’s possible that the Steelers will give him a call around training camp to see where he is, but they will look to address the inside linebacker position elsewhere. They signed two unrestricted free agents and still have options like Tae Crowder on the roster.
