After struggling to figure out the inside linebacker position in recent seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers seemed to find all the right answers this offseason with the additions of veterans Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts and Kwon Alexander in free agency.
Those answers showed up on the field, too, through the first eight games as the Steelers’ three-man rotation at the position was playing rather well and slotting into roles quite nicely.
Now things will have to change due to the season-ending injury suffered by Holcomb Thursday night in Week Nine against the Tennessee Titans.
For head coach Mike Tomlin, the injury will force the Steelers to go back to a more traditional inside linebacker rotation featuring Roberts and Alexander with one coming off the field in sub-package, rather than the three-man rotation Pittsburgh was utilizing when all were healthy.
“[Holcomb] was playing really well. It was somewhat of a luxury, man. We thought we had three really capable inside linebackers that we were dividing the labor up among two positions among three capable guys. And that’s a really good thing when you have an opportunity to do that, you really can specialize and allow guys week in and week out to do the things that they do best. They can remain fresher,” Tomlin said to reporters Tuesday during his weekly press conference when asked how the Steelers will make up for Holcomb’s production, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “It was a pleasure to have that collective, talking about Cole and Elandon and Kwon. Now, we simply got two guys for two spots, and so it’s more of a traditional rotation.
“Obviously, it could create more opportunity for a guy like Mark Robinson in his second year, but he’s not gonna get the type of involvement that Cole had. And so, what we had was a luxury. What we have now is probably more of a traditional division of labor at the inside linebacker position.”
Having those three experienced, productive linebackers was definitely a luxury for the Steelers, and with Holcomb now on season-ending Injured Reserve, that luxury is gone. It’s not like the Steelers are bare at the position though.
Roberts and Alexander have a combined 170 career NFL starts. They know each other well at this point, work well together and have a strong chemistry. They’ll just have to pick up some of the slack together with the loss of Holcomb.
As Tomlin mentioned, Robinson could see some playing time, too, in certain situations, but he made it clear that the developing second-year linebacker wouldn’t be as involved defensively as Holcomb was. Nobody will be moving forward. You don’t replace that type of guy midseason.
Of course, veteran Mykal Walker could be promoted from the practice squad to try and lessen the blow. Walker has 20 career NFL starts and was a key starter for the Falcons last season, recording 107 tackles. For now though, Tomlin believes in the linebacker group that he has, especially Alexander, whom he feels can provide the type of play that Holcomb had early in the season.
“Yes, he does. In what ways does he, as I mentioned, we had a luxury when we had all three, but we’ve got two really capable guys now who are gonna act in more of a traditional fashion, and so we don’t feel like anything’s lost in that regard,” Tomlin added, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page.
The Steelers shouldn’t feel like anything was lost, as far as abilities go. Holcomb was playing very well overall, but what he was doing isn’t something that Alexander can’t handle in an expanded role. After all, that’s why the Steelers were chasing after Alexander throughout the offseason.
