With the Steelers’ 2023 offseason underway following a disappointing season that came up just short of reaching the playoffs, it’s time to begin reloading, through the free agency process, through the draft, and perhaps even through trade.
This is now a young team on the offensive side of the ball, though one getting older on defense. Both sides could stand to be supplemented robustly, including in the trenches—either one. Changes have been made to the coaching staff, even if not all of the desired ones, as the roster continues to renew with the weeks ticking by.
These sorts of uncertainties are what I will look to address in our Buy or Sell series. In each installment, I will introduce a topic statement and weigh some of the arguments for either buying it (meaning that you agree with it or expect it to be true) or selling it (meaning you disagree with it or expect it to be false).
Topic Statement: Isaiahh Loudermilk’s time is just about up in Pittsburgh.
Explanation: The third-year veteran returns to a continually deepening defensive line room in which it’s less clear where he fits and if there is room for him. While some linemen from last season are no longer here, the Steelers brought in a good deal of new faces as well.
Buy:
The Steelers would have to go heavy on the defensive line this year in order for Isaiahh Loudermilk to stick around this time, and the 2023 roster is likely to be too deep to allow for that to happen. While Chris Wormley and Tyson Alualu are no longer on the roster, the other faces provide him no aid.
Rookie second-round pick Keeanu Benton is obviously going to make the 53-man roster. It seems likely that Breiden Fehoko will as well, even as a veteran-minimum signing. The bigger question is Armon Watts, another veteran addition, but he is basically the player the Steelers seem to think Loudermilk can be, so if you already have that player, why not just keep him? DeMarvin Leal is ready to step up as the third defensive end, and pretty much everybody else can contribute there as well, with more versatility, so he could find himself on the practice squad instead.
Sell:
It’s very possible that Loudermilk does not make the 53-man roster. But that’s also true of Fehoko. And of Watts. And of Montravius Adams, who at least as of this writing, is penciled in as the starting nose tackle.
But even if all three of those players do make the roster, there can still be room for Loudermilk behind Cameron Heyward, Larry Ogunjobi, and Leal. They have kept seven at times in recent years and seem to be placing an even greater emphasis on physicality and depth in the trenches, so it would only make sense.
Beyond that, we must also consider that his 2022 season was compromised by injury. He got hurt in training camp and that affected his ability to contribute for much of the season. That worked out well for Leal, but Loudermilk sort of got left behind. With a healthy offseason, he can get back on track to where many thought he might be by now.
