When the Pittsburgh Steelers signed veteran inside linebacker Elandon Roberts in free agency, the move was made with run defense and a downhill, physical presence in mind.
So far, that’s been exactly what Roberts has been to the Steelers. But with veterans Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander now lost to season-ending injuries, Roberts will have to do more than just defend the run and be a downhill, physical presence. He’ll have to handle some of the workload in coverage, too.
For head coach Mike Tomlin, there’s a belief in Roberts there, even though the Steelers weren’t utilizing him in coverage early in the season.
Speaking with reporters Tuesday ahead of the Week 11 matchup with the Cleveland Browns, Tomlin backed Roberts when it comes to an expanded role even if pass coverage is not his forte.
“Obviously we didn’t deem him as good as Cole Holcomb or Kwon Alexander [in coverage], and that’s why he wasn’t [utilized]. But he’s been an every-down player. As I’ve mentioned several times, we had all three of those guys, and that was somewhat of a luxury. And we divvied things up to highlight the skill set of all three and to spread their talents out over two positions,” Tomlin said during his weekly press conference, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “So, just because we haven’t utilized Elandon in that area [coverage], doesn’t mean he’s deficient.
“It’s just how we chose to divide the labor up in an effort to utilize the luxury of three very, very capable guys that we had at two positions. But again, I’ve mentioned that several times in discussions about them.”
Roberts might be capable of playing all three downs and handling some coverage duties, but it doesn’t exactly mean he’s good at it.
There’s a reason many of the teams he’s been on made him a two-down linebacker, taking him off the field in obvious passing situations. In his career, he’s played 1,448 snaps in coverage, never grading higher than 53.6 over a full season. That said, he sits at a 61.7 in coverage so far in 2023 with the Steelers, playing 130 snaps in coverage to date.
In coverage on the season, Roberts has allowed 17 receptions on 17 targets for 169 yards, but he has not allowed a touchdown and has one pass breakup on the season, which came in Week 10 against the Green Bay Packers.
After stepping into an every-down role against Green Bay due to Alexander’s Achilles injury, Roberts allowed five receptions for 63 yards and was beat late in the game by rookie tight end Luke Musgrave. Now that he’s going to be the every-down guy for the Steelers — for now — teams are going to consistently test him in coverage.
He’s allowed 162 receptions on 196 targets in his career for 1,771 yards and nine touchdowns, though he does have eight pass breakups. An astounding 997 of those yards have come after catch in his career, too, and he’s allowed a passer rating of 114.1 on the season.
The Steelers don’t believe him to be deficient in coverage. We’ll see if that’s the case moving forward with Roberts in a more prominent role now.
