With the Pittsburgh Steelers losing two inside linebackers to season-ending injuries in Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander, Elandon Roberts has had to step up. Roberts has taken on the main communications role with the green dot, and he played 100% of Pittsburgh’s snaps in its Week 11 loss to the Cleveland Browns. Outside linebacker T.J. Watt is impressed with what he’s seen out of Roberts, telling reporters today that he’s proven he’s not just a “thumper” at inside linebacker.
“He’s huge. Great communicator, guy that if he messes up he’s not gonna make the same mistake twice. That’s just a testament to a guy that’s been in the league a long time, played for some great coaches. Came here and is showing that he’s not just a thumper, he’s been able to do multiple different things for us,” Watt said via Steelers Live on Twitter.
When Pittsburgh signed Roberts, his reputation was well-known as a linebacker who could get downhill and make plays, but his coverage ability wasn’t anything to write home about. In his first game taking on a significantly larger role from start to finish, Roberts was all over the field. He made plenty of plays in coverage, particularly against the Browns’ running backs. That helped negate some of their short passing game, and while Cleveland ended up getting the win, Roberts showed a lot.
The Steelers have looked to help Roberts by adding Blake Martinez to their active roster and signing Myles Jack to their practice squad. Those vets should help ease some of the burden on Roberts so he’s not playing 100% of the snaps in every single game. But his performance on Sunday helped ease some of the stress about how Pittsburgh would manage without Holcomb and Alexander, who were part of the three-man inside linebacker rotation with Roberts for the first half of the season.
Mykal Walker is another guy who has some experience, but he looked just average in his first game of the season. If Roberts can continue his level of play though, the Steelers should be set up fine at the position even though they’re down two key players in Holcomb and Alexander. They can’t rely on him to play every snap of every game, hence why they’re still adding at the position. But his performance on Sunday surely opened some eyes and proved to many, including Watt, that he’s more than just a thumper at the position.
