The Pittsburgh Steelers overhauled their inside linebacker room this offseason. Gone are Devin Bush, Robert Spillane, Marcus Allen, and Myles Jack. New are Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts, and Tanner Muse.
The only constant is second-year Mark Robinson. A former running back who spent just one year in college playing linebacker, he’s pushing for more playing time in 2023.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Steelers’ defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is hopeful Robinson can be in the mix to start “next season.” Here’s what he said via the PPG’s Ray Fittipaldo.
Per his interview on Steelers.com, here is Austin’s full answer on Robinson.
“We thought that we saw enough from [him], that we could bring him along. Still a work in progress. Still probably not quite ready but really making good strides. When you watch him as I watch him, he’s better in communication. He’s better in pass coverage. He’s better in some of the things where he was hurting on last year. But he’s still got a way to go. He still has a ways to go but he’s really working on it and you see the improvement. So what you’re hoping is as he continues to improve that maybe next year he’s ready to really compete for that starting job.”
Presumably, that “next season” means 2024, not this year and the full quote of Austin’s comments seem to affirm that. Pittsburgh drafted Robinson in the 7th round of the 2022 NFL Draft, a downhill thumper out of Ole Miss. He flashed as a rookie, impressing during the summer with a hot motor and impactful hits, but he spent most of the regular season on the bench. It wasn’t until late in the year that he saw playing time, used in specialty run defense packages against the Carolina Panthers and Baltimore Ravens. By year’s end, he was out-snapping former first-round pick Devin Bush.
For the year, Robinson logged 44 defensive snaps and a handful more on special teams, ending things with nine total tackles. He’s expected to make a jump in Year Two, now more confident and comfortable at his position and in the league, but it sounds like Austin is pumping the brakes on Robinson pushing for serious playing time in 2023. He still hasn’t logged a ton of snaps at linebacker in college or the NFL and needs to round out the edges of his game, especially in coverage.
Based on those comments, Holcomb and Roberts are the two most likely players to start at inside linebacker. Holcomb is hopefully a long-term solution and three-down player while Roberts’ style is strikingly similar to Robinson but with far more experience. Roberts is on a cheap two-year deal and few of the team’s free agent signings at the position have played out their contract, suggesting Robinson will replace Roberts next offseason.
While Austin is throwing cold water on the idea, if the team found ways to get Robinson on the field as a rookie, they should continue to explore it now that he’s a sophomore. He has a Steelers mentality and didn’t look completely lost out of the gate, flashing in his first NFL camp and holding his own in his first regular season snaps later in the year. Of course, all it’ll take is one injury to swing the door open for him. So ready or not, Pittsburgh could turn to Robinson at some point during the season.
