While the 2023 NFL season hasn’t even kicked off yet, it’s never too early to look ahead to next year and the 2024 NFL Draft, at least from a roster building standpoint.
As the Pittsburgh Steelers currently sit, one position is a glaring need, that being inside linebacker.
Granted, that could change depending on the play of veterans Elandon Roberts and Cole Holcomb, who were signed in free agency to shore up the position, as well as the development of second-year pro Mark Robinson. But, as things currently stand just under a month away from the start of another edition of Steelers training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, inside linebacker will be very high on the list of needs for the Steelers.
The good news is that at least early on the inside linebacker class in the 2024 NFL Draft looks rather strong. That class should be headlined by Clemson standout Jeremiah Trotter Jr., the son of former Philadelphia Eagles standout Jeremiah Trotter, who was a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro in his 11-year career, which also saw him spend time with Washington and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Trotter Jr. is a standout at Clemson and should be in the first-round discussion for next year’s draft and could be a fit for the Steelers given the bloodlines and it being a position of need. So, it wasn’t all that surprising to see Trotter Jr. listed as the player to watch in the 2024 NFL Draft for the Steelers by Pro Football Focus Wednesday morning.
“The Steelers defense has most of the makings of an elite unit, but they have a big hole at linebacker. Their 2022 unit ranked 29th in overall grading and struggled mightily in coverage. This season, they’ll try to patch things together with veterans like Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts, but they need a star at that position,” PFF’s Dalton Wasserman writes regarding the Steelers and Trotter. “That star could be Jeremiah Trotter Jr., who enters his junior year at Clemson as arguably the best linebacker in college football. He excelled in coverage last year, posting an 89.7 coverage grade with two interceptions and a minuscule 44.5 passer rating allowed. Trotter Jr. would give the Steelers a potential star at a spot where they haven’t had one in several years.”
The Steelers have not had that potential star since the Ryan Shazier days before he was tragically injured in 2017. Since then, Pittsburgh has been trying to fill that hole in a number of ways, going the veteran free agent route with guys like Myles Jack, Joe Schoebert and Jon Bostic to no avail. Pittsburgh traded up in the 2019 NFL Draft to land Devin Bush, but a torn ACL early in his second season largely derailed his career. He signed with the Seahawks this offseason on a one-year deal after a disappointing third season and a modest bounce back year last season.
Pittsburgh has tried the late-round picks route on inside linebackers too, grabbing names like Ulysees Gilbert, Buddy Johnson and Robinson in recent drafts. Only Robinson has shown some promise, and that came in a limited cameo late last season. He still has a lot of growth and development ahead of him at the position.
So, that’s where swinging big in the draft and going after a guy like Trotter Jr. could be the answer for the Steelers at a very clear position of need.
Trotter cracked the Tigers’ starting lineup a year ago, finishing 2022 with 89 tackles (13.5 TFL), 6.5 sacks, five pass deflections, and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. That came against South Carolina, dropping into his hook zone and undercutting this pass to return it all the way.
The issue with Trotter could be, like it is for many linebackers in this modern age, is weight. Sports Reference lists him at 210 pounds though his Clemson bio pegs him at 230. He’s a leaner body that’s become common in college football in a world of RPOs, mobile quarterbacks, and horizontal passing games. Still, he burst onto the scene in impressive fashion after barely playing as a freshman. With a similar 2023 to his 2022 campaign, he will play his way into being a top pick.
He’s certainly a name to keep an eye on and should be a hot commodity in the draft. Maybe he isn’t the guy the Steelers get in the end, but it’s clear that inside linebacker is the biggest need when projecting to next season, at least right now.
