Training camp is the laboratory in which teams beginning testing out their hypotheses about how best to win during the upcoming season. While a great deal of attention is paid to the starters and those who will be primarily responsible for success or failure, though, one of the most exciting things to look forward to at this time of year is the underdog stories.
2022 seventh-round ILB Mark Robinson was one of those underdogs last year. I’m not sure he would still qualify in the same sense this time around, having already made the 53-man roster, but many will still be watching him with great interest to see if he can take that next step. Former Steelers QB and current analyst Charlie Batch is among them.
“The name that we’re missing out right now I think is Mark Robinson”, he said during a KDKA segment previewing training camp. “This was a guy last year [who] made the roster coming out of Ole Miss, was a running back converted to linebacker. He now should know that defense a little bit better, so I want to see him thrown into that mix as well”.
That would be the mix at inside linebacker, with the projected starters being a pair of unrestricted free agent signings this offseason, Elandon Roberts and Cole Holcomb. The Steelers’ top linebackers from last season—Devin Bush, Robert Spillane, and Myles Jack—are gone, only the latter remaining unsigned.
Robinson was on the bottom of the depth chart last year, also behind Marcus Allen, who is off the roster now as well. The Ole Miss alum spent most of his rookie year as a health scratch, but he was given opportunities to play on defense late in the year—to mixed results.
And that was primarily because of the need of his mental game to catch up with his physical game. He is still new to the defensive side of the ball as a former running back, so there is a lot that he can pick up on over the course of an offseason, having gotten a taste of an NFL season last year.
Still, it would be a lot to ask him to push his way into defensive relevance over the course of the next few weeks. Roberts and Holcomb might not exactly be household names, but they are veterans with significant starting histories.
Batch believes Roberts is in position to make the biggest impact because “he has the most experience. But Cole Holcomb, he was battling some injuries throughout the OTAs, so it’s gonna be interesting to see how he comes to camp and whether that hamstring is still lingering with him”.
I’m not sure if Holcomb actually had a hamstring injury, but we do know that he was still recovering from a foot injury that ended his 2022 season. He has previously said that he expects to be a full participant during training camp, so we’ll have to see if that actually happens this week.
