The Pittsburgh Steelers should have the most physical, hardest-hitting defense in football this season. While they already had their share of heavy hitters, the roster was stocked with even more, particularly at the inside linebacker position.
That’s the group over which Aaron Curry now presides. A former first-round draft pick at the position who is now in his first season as a full-time position coach in the NFL, he’ll have a lot to work with in the physicality department—which, he insists, will always be a part of the game no matter what changes.
“Big hits, violence always matters in football”, he told Jeff Hathhorn and Chris Mack for 93.7 The Fan. “The timing is what’s more important, and safety in doing it is even more important than that. From my playing days, a big hit can get guys going. It brings juice to the crowd, it brings juice to the team, allows guys to play with passion. As long as we’re doing it safely and properly, I do think it plays a huge role in playing defense”.
That shouldn’t be a problem for this year’s inside linebackers, a significant upgrade from the past couple years since Vince Williams retired. While Robert Spillane had that one hit on RB Derrick Henry, it’s not exactly a complete resume. And one could fairly classify Devin Bush and Myles Jack as ‘limited’ in this department as well.
Not so for the new guys like Elandon Roberts and Kwon Alexander, signed as free agents this offseason, not to mention second-year Mark Robinson, who in spite of the additions in front of him continues to make encouraging progress.
Now, Alexander did have one tackle last Friday in the team’s first preseason game that the officials deemed to be too physical, drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty as a result. Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin did acknowledge earlier this week that it was a penalty.
There’s always going to be a fine line in today’s game when it comes to playing physical, but it’s still very much possible—even if certain rules continue to complicate matters. As it concerns the protection of defenseless players, “launching” is now when even one foot leaves the ground.
But Alexander has been not a highly penalized player over the course of his career. He did get ejected in 2019 after hitting QB Jameis Winston in the head, but overall there isn’t a clear pattern that establishes an excess of physicality for the officiating crew. The same can be said for Roberts, though he did have an unnecessary roughness penalty last year—and one in 2021 as well, along with roughing the passer. But that’s it for his career for that type of infraction.
Steelers fans ought to prepare themselves for a very physical middle of this defense no matter who is lining up. That includes Cole Holcomb, who is no slouch with the boom stick, either, even if he doesn’t have quite the same reputation as the others.
