The Pittsburgh Steelers’ inside linebacker room has been decimated by injuries the last two weeks, with both Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander suffering season-ending injuries. That’s left just Elandon Roberts healthy as far as linebackers who started the season in the rotation, but the Steelers added veteran Mykal Walker to the practice squad a few weeks ago. With both Holcomb and Alexander down, Walker is likely going to get a shot this week, and he talked about the tone that Roberts sets for the inside linebacker room.
“All you gotta do is turn on the game on Sunday. You’ll see it. I mean, he’s a head-hunter. That dude right there, he is a monster. I watch him, I respect his game a lot,” Walker said via Steelers Live on Twitter. “Known about him for a while now and I get to see it every day in person. Him and Kwon, they bring the juice in our room, so it’s something that we gotta step it up.”
While Walker’s on the practice squad, he does bring experience to Pittsburgh’s inside linebacker room. He spent three years with the Atlanta Falcons before being a bit of a surprise cut during the offseason, and in those three years he played 1,347 defensive snaps and racked up 187 total tackles, including 107 last year.
The experience isn’t the issue with Walker, it’s going to be getting up to speed in Pittsburgh’s system and being ready to play significant snaps if needed. Behind Roberts and second-year linebacker Mark Robinson, the Steelers just have converted safety Tariq Carpenter and Walker, if the latter does get a shot on the active roster this week. Given their issues at the position, it would be a surprise if he didn’t, so we’ll see if inside linebackers coach Aaron Curry and the rest of Pittsburgh’s defensive coaching staff have gotten Walker up to speed.
If he is, his experience and tackling ability could fill what’s now a huge a huge hole at inside linebacker for the Steelers. He’s a guy who’s played significant snaps and was trusted with the green dot in Atlanta. With communication being an issue for Pittsburgh yesterday, hopefully he can help fill some of that void, as well.
He was an intriguing signing at this point in the season, and given Pittsburgh’s issues now, it looks like a shrewd one. With the tone that Roberts is setting for the group as a leader and veteran, it’s now up to the younger guys to follow that lead and build on what the group has done to this point.
Roberts is a thumper, but he doesn’t provide much in the way of coverage. But as a guy in his eighth year, his leadership is going to be extra important with a group behind him that just doesn’t have a lot of reps in Pittsburgh. It’s something that Walker clearly appreciates and something that could hopefully hold this group together for the rest of the season.
