The Pittsburgh Steelers revamped their inside linebacker room this offseason, adding Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts and Kwon Alexander, along with Nick Kwiatkoski and Tanner Muse. While Muse and Kwitakoski are fighting for a role as special teams contributors, all of Holcomb, Roberts and Alexander should play a key part in Pittsburgh’s defense. During his press conference before Pittsburgh’s second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, head coach Mike Tomlin talked about the differing skill sets at the inside linebacker position.
“It’s just really a component of today’s game, man. We got some varsity inside linebackers and of varying skill sets and so, man, we are just excited about dividing the labor up on a week-in and week-out basis to highlight that skill set and position ourselves to play really good defense,” Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel. “Got respect for the contributions of all of those guys that have been working in that group and A.C.’s been doing an awesome job of coaching them.”
Inside linebackers coach Aaron Curry is also new to the team, and he talked about his confidence in the unit’s ability to cover during an interview on Wednesday. Alexander is probably the best coverage linebacker on the team, but Holcomb has some coverage experience as well. Adding Roberts to the mix with those two gives the team three legitimate thumpers at the inside linebacker position.
The Steelers’ roster-building approach at inside linebacker hasn’t worked over the last few years, with the team adding veterans who didn’t work out elsewhere to try and secure stopgap solutions. They tried to address it through the draft with Devin Bush in the first round, but after Bush tore his ACL in his second season, he was never the same player. Putting a retread veteran next to him led to some messy play at the position.
This offseason, Pittsburgh at least targeted guys with refined skill sets to help rebuild. Holcomb and Roberts are both guys who can get downhill and make plays at the line of scrimmage or in the backfield. Holcomb at least has some athleticism to play alright in coverage, but no one is mistaking Roberts as a coverage threat. Alexander can do a little bit of everything, and he was a really fun guy to watch against the Buccaneers in Pittsburgh’s preseason opener.
The combination of skill sets and abilities from three guys who have proven they can be good players in the league before should help change the inside linebacker room from a weakness to a unit that can compete and help strengthen what should be a really good Steelers defense. All three will likely see a bit more work on Saturday night against the Buffalo Bills, and I’m excited to see how they play.
