The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: Can Mykal Walker hold off Blake Martinez and Myles Jack for the starting job?
The Steelers were put into a crisis after losing two starting linebackers to injury in quick succession. Suddenly a position of depth became a desperate situation, but perhaps one driven more by the unknown than anything else.
In the past month, they have added three starting linebackers to the practice squad, one of whom has been in the starting lineup the past two weeks. That would be Mykal Walker, who had 107 tackles and two interceptions for the Atlanta Falcons last year.
At the moment, he is starting over two more experienced veterans, Blake Martinez and Myles Jack, who were recently added. Martinez is on the 53-man roster after being signed from the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad. Jack, who had been on the street at the time (figuratively), was signed to the practice squad, but he knows the defense because he was here last year.
But here’s the thing. Walker has been playing pretty well. The defense has given up 23 points in the two games in which he has played, and opposing offenses have not much been able to run the football. He’s doing his job.
So as long as he’s doing his job, will he be able to hold off the more likely starting candidates, or is it only a matter of time to get them up to speed? The Steelers never tried to re-sign Jack to a lesser deal after they released him, and he spent most of the offseason unsigned.
Martinez was signed about a week ago, so it’s possible that they are just getting him up to speed before plugging him in. They could use a rotation the way they were doing before the injuries as well. Doing that could help them get a look at all of their starting candidates simultaneously before settling on one.
