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: How will the inside linebacker position hold up for the remainder of the season?
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost their two most versatile linebackers of experience in consecutive games recently. Cole Holcomb went down with a knee injury against the Tennessee Titans, and then 10 days later, it was Kwon Alexander suffering an Achilles.
The inside linebacker position quickly went from one with luxury depth to an emergency situation. While they still have Elandon Roberts and Mark Robinson, they are now required to call up reinforcements from the practice squad.
No moves have been officially made as of yet, but it seems the expectation is Mykal Walker will either be elevated from the practice squad or outright signed to the 53-man roster. We could also see the elevation or promotion of Tariq Carpenter, who was called up for this past week’s game against the Packers.
Now, Walker didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, even if he has only been in Pittsburgh for a little over two weeks. He has over 1,000 defensive snaps played on his resume with the Atlanta Falcons, registering more than 100 tackles in 2022. Provided that he is sufficiently up to speed to function, he could have a sub-package role.
That would come in handy given that neither Roberts, who has played less than half the defensive snaps this season, nor Robinson, is ideally suited for work in coverage. Roberts lacks the athleticism to be a trusted option, and Robinson is still developing his understanding of his defensive responsibilities.
There’s a good chance that as the season progresses, the base defense will morph into a dime package, as it did in 2013 following Larry Foote’s season-ending injury in the opener. A rookie Vince Williams and Kion Wilson were all they had behind Lawrence Timmons. That year, safeties Will Allen and Ryan Mundy combined to play over 1,000 snaps between them.
