Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: ILB Elandon Roberts
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The early offseason acquisition saw his most extensive action of the preseason in Thursday’s finale and showed why they brought him here with very physical but effective play. Questioned about his role since the addition of Kwon Alexander, Roberts answered emphatically that he isn’t sitting on the bench for anybody.
You want to talk bully ball? Elandon Roberts is your bully. That’s how he’s always played, only now he’s doing it for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He didn’t get to show it as much until the final preseason game in which he found himself smacking Falcons around every chance he got—even on incomplete passes.
Though he only had three tackles in the game, it felt like more, and not just because he managed to do a lot of hitting that wasn’t officially credited as a tackle. That’s because his tackles had a great impact. He knifed through the offensive line for a four-yard loss on Atlanta’s first play of the game, for example, setting the tone for a very long night.
He made back-to-back plays late in the first half, starting with a sack for a nine-yard loss. One play later, he tackled the catch for a five-yard gain and then on third down blew up the receiver on a pass that sailed incomplete—legally, to be clear. It was the Elandon Roberts drive:
There is still some question of playing time. Cole Holcomb is the every-down linebacker, and it seems likely that the coaches are going to want to get Kwon Alexander on the field as well. Alexander is as experienced a veteran as is Roberts and also a hard hitter, as he has shown this preseason.
But whenever he is out there on the field, you know exactly what you’re going to get from him. He is an intelligent football player who isn’t afraid to throw his weight around, sometimes quite literally. He is going to be a tone-setter for this unit, reminiscent of Vince Williams. We thought that was going to be Mark Robinson, but you need to get on the field first. They found that in Roberts.
