In 31 snaps last Saturday at Acrisure Stadium against the Buffalo Bills, no backup player was better for the Pittsburgh Steelers than inside linebacker Tanner Muse.
Muse, who was signed as a free agent in the offseason away from the Seattle Seahawks, graded out at 90.8 overall defensively by Pro Football Focus, and was named the “most impressive backup” for the Steelers in their preseason Week Two win over Buffalo.
“The former Clemson Tiger has played mostly on special teams in the NFL, and that is where he is expected to play in Pittsburgh. But his defensive play against the Bills was encouraging,” PFF’s Zoltan Buday writes. “While he did not receive a downgrade in run defense, he was at his best in coverage. He allowed just one reception on 18 coverage snaps, which went for only 7 yards and did not result in a first down.”
Without a doubt, Muse was very good against the Bills.
He was all over the field, played well in coverage with a big hit in the fourth quarter to break up a pass with cornerback Lavert Hill, and even had a big run stop near the line of scrimmage.
With more snaps opened up due to a shoulder injury to Nick Kwiatkoski that kept him out of the game, Muse took advantage of the extra snaps and turned some heads. Along with his pass breakup and his run stop at the line of scrimmage, Muse recorded a fumble recovery after rookie Nick Herbig’s strip-sack.
Largely viewed as a special teams piece for the Steelers, Muse had a strong showing in extended snaps as an inside linebacker Saturday night.
That’s promising moving forward for the Steelers. The inside linebacker room looks really good overall through training camp and two preseason games with the likes of Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts and Kwon Alexander set for key roles defensively. While he was signed as a special teams piece, Muse is turning some heads defensively in the preseason.
Prior to landing with Pittsburgh, Muse was a special teams ace in Seattle after flaming out in Las Vegas with the Raiders. Once in Seattle, Muse stood out on special teams, recording 20 tackles on special teams over two seasons. During that same time though, he rarely saw the field defensively, playing just 80 defensive snaps over two seasons with all of them coming late last season.
Then, Muse played a career-high 44 defensive snaps in the Seahawks’ Wild Card round loss to the San Francisco 49ers, playing rather well overall with four tackles. While he’s still developing defensively, there is more comfort there with the Steelers and Muse should he need to see the field defensively.
His performance against the Bills was a good indication of where he’s at and what he can bring to the table when called upon.
