Under the circumstances, the Pittsburgh Steelers are fortunate to have what they have at the inside linebacker position. After losing two starters to season-ending injuries, they still roster four players with significant starting experience.
Stepping up to fill the void of losing Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander is Mykal Walker, a fourth-year veteran they signed to the practice squad on Oct. 30. Just a couple weeks later, he was a starter, having played over 80 percent of the Steelers’ defensive snaps in the past two games.
“I like what he’s done. I think it’s reasonable to expect him to continue to get better in terms of detail and knowing what to do in terms of how he communicates”, head coach Mike Tomlin said of his new starter during his weekly conference yesterday, via the team’s website.
A former fourth-round pick, Walker spent his first three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons before being something of a surprise cut this August. He spent some time with the Chicago Bears after being claimed off waivers and was on the Las Vegas Raiders’ practice squad briefly before arriving in Pittsburgh.
He played over 1,300 defensive snaps for the Falcons during his three seasons, including 760 across 12 starts in 16 games during the 2022 season. That year, he recorded 107 tackles, including four for loss, and picked off two passes in addition to recording a sack.
And now he’s lining up next to Elandon Roberts as a starter, both of them logging a hefty workload. They’ve only been in the same building going on a month now, so they are still in the process of getting better and on the same page.
“I’m excited about this week’s work, but really appreciative of [Walker’s] efforts to this point”, Tomlin said. “This challenge getting on a moving train, and he’s done a nice job of it”.
And perhaps, in the weeks to come, the challenge of fending off a pair of significant challengers. The Steelers recently signed two very experienced starting inside linebackers to the roster, one on the practice squad, who could threaten his job, or at least compete for playing time.
Blake Martinez was signed to the 53-man roster off the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad a little over a week ago. A 78-game starter with more than 700 tackles, 13 sacks, four picks, and four forced fumbles, still 29 years old, he was a very fine and steady player before an ACL injury changed the trajectory of his career.
He retired a year ago, as did Myles Jack earlier this year, but both are back in the thick of things. Jack was a starting inside linebacker for this very team a year ago but was a salary cap casualty in March. When healthy, he put in solid work. But as long as Walker plays as he has, both of those old heads might just stay seated.
