Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: ILB Mark Robinson
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: The second-year linebacker was officially listed as second-string on the team’s latest depth chart, behind a player just promoted from the practice squad, after seeing zero defensive snaps on Sunday. It was the first game following the season-ending injury to Kwon Alexander, which was preceded by a season-ending injury for Cole Holcomb.
How do you end up as a backup when you begin the season as one of four players at a position at which two start, and then have two players in front of you go down with injuries? That’s probably what Mark Robinson is wondering these days.
The 2022 seventh-round draft pick remains where he started in spite of the fact that the Steelers’ top two inside linebackers by snap count are done for the year. Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander won’t be returning to the lineup any time soon. Yet they played just as many defensive snaps on Sunday as Robinson did.
And here’s the thing: If he didn’t play on Sunday against a Cleveland Browns team starting a rookie third-string quarterback, it’s not looking good for him to pick up any more playing time. Indeed, with further moves that the Steelers have made, he shouldn’t even consider his roster spot safe.
Mykal Walker, who was a 12-game starter for the Atlanta Falcons last year, started the last game alongside Elandon Roberts, and they got the job done. Walker, having been on the practice squad, is now listed as starter, with Robinson behind him.
But even that may not last. The team has just picked up two veteran former starting linebackers who had retired and only recently unretired. They reportedly just signed Blake Martinez off the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad. He will be on the 53-man roster.
And on the practice squad is Myles Jack, whom the team earlier this year decided wasn’t worth $8 million, which he was scheduled to earn, but is still a capable NFL defender. He announced his retirement in August, but recently decided to continue his career. While he is on the practice squad now, that could change.
Especially if that does, Robinson could end up being waived altogether. After all, if they’re not going to bother to play him even under these circumstances, then they clearly don’t have much use for him.
