One of the big points of emphasis this offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers was rebuilding the inside linebacker room after a rather poor year overall from the previous group.
It wasn’t just last season, either.
Dating back to the tragic Ryan Shazier injury in 2017, the Steelers inside linebacker room has largely been a mess, which led to GM Omar Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl throwing everything possible at the wall this offseason hoping something will stick.
Veterans Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts, Tanner Muse, Nick Kwiatkoski and Kwon Alexander were all signed in hopes of some of them playing key roles in stopping the seemingly endless churn at the position.
So far in training camp the group has looked rather solid and is flying around making plays and playing with great energy. That has Steelers standout outside linebacker Alex Highsmith fired up.
In an appearance on 102.5 WDVE Wednesday morning, Highsmith said that the inside linebacker group is really starting to gel and progressing each and every day.
“It’s been really good so far. Cole, E-Rob, Mark’s [Robinson] been around here last year, and now bringing in Kwon as well. It’s been awesome,” Highsmith said, according to audio via 102.5 WDVE. “Those guys coming in and learning the system, I think we’re starting to gel a lot and getting more chemistry and the communication’s getting down. They’re learning the playbook very well and they’re progressing every day.
“It’s awesome getting to work with those guys, so I’m excited to take the field with them this year.”
As Highsmith stated, second-year linebacker Mark Robinson has been around for the last year, so he knows the system overall. But, along with practice squad player Chappelle Russell, Robinson is the only linebacker in the room with experience within the Steelers’ scheme.
So, there’s a lot of developing, learning and growing occurring in the inside linebacker room, even with a number of veterans on the depth chart.
The group has been completely remade this offseason, which Khan and Weidl deserve a ton of credit for. In recent years the inside linebacker play hasn’t been anywhere near good enough, which has held back the defense in some regards. Hopefully, Holcomb, Alexander and Roberts can play key roles in changing that.
So far, so good.
Holcomb has looked very good in training camp, bringing a ton of energy to the room and flying around on Chuck Noll Field, making plays sideline to sideline, even forcing a fumble in a team session — something the inside linebackers didn’t do at all last season.
Roberts has been exactly what many expected he would be: a physical, downhill presence. He’s looked terrific in backs-on-‘backers drills and has brought that physical presence and attitude that the room has desperately needed since Vince Williams retired. Same for Alexander, who has hit the ground running since joining the Steelers four days into training camp. He’s arguably the most talented player in the rebuilt room, but health is a key question for him.
We’ll see how the new-look inside linebacker room looks on the field in a real game starting Friday night at Raymond James Stadium against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Highsmith is rather pleased with the growth and development of the room and is excited to hit the field with them. That seems to be the prevailing feeling defensively, too.
