The Pittsburgh Steelers are a defense-first football team but there has been plenty of change to that defense this offseason. The Steelers inside linebacker room has been completely overhauled sans Mark Robinson, and the defensive backfield is also filled with a bunch of new faces and possible starters. However, despite all the new faces on defense head coach Mike Tomlin is not concerned about the potential of the unit being behind schedule.
Today, Tomlin met with the media after players reported to training camp and expressed that because almost all the new faces on defense are veterans, he isn’t expecting much adjustment time for them.
“I’ll be very blunt, we’re not concerned about the new faces on defense,” Tomlin said in his press conference which was streamed on the Steelers YouTube page. “They’re veteran guys, they’re smart guys. It’s gonna be a non-issue for us by the time we’re stepping into stadiums.”
Other than possibly rookie CB Joey Porter Jr., most of the new starters on defense this year are veterans which should make the transition smooth. CB Patrick Peterson is entering his 13th season, so he has plenty of experience. Inside linebackers Elandon Roberts and Cole Holcomb are entering their eighth and fifth years respectively. These projected starters know the NFL and schemes so adjusting to Pittsburgh’s system shouldn’t take much time, especially considering many of these additions joined the team early in free agency giving them time to learn the playbook.
The one area where there could be some adjustment time is in the communication department. With new inside linebackers, a new face will be wearing the green dot and be the chief communicator of the defense. It will obviously be an adjustment to learning how, say Holcomb for example, relays plays in and communicates with the rest of the defense but it is one that the defense should be comfortable with by the end of preseason.
With how reliant Pittsburgh will likely be on their defense this season, it is a reasonable question to wonder how long it will take for the 2023 unit to really get going. In their base defense, Pittsburgh will likely see four new full-time starters in Peterson, Holcomb, Roberts, and S Damontae Kazee who was on the team last season but behind Terrell Edmunds on the depth chart.
It’s important that Tomlin is right on this and the Steelers defense will be fully ready come Week One. In a loaded AFC, the Steelers will need all the wins they can get. If the defense is blowing assignments because of miscommunication early in the season, it could cost them games and possibly a playoff berth. Hopefully these issues were taken care of during OTA’s and mandatory mini-camp.
