Like Mark Robinson, the Pittsburgh Steelers are right where we are: sitting at home being mad. Although they managed to make the playoffs in 2023, they lost in the first round. It has now been seven years without a postseason victory, the longest drought in franchise history. The question is what to do next.
The first step is always taking stock of what happened and what is left. That’s part of the exit meeting process, in which coaches meet with each player. They discuss the season and their expectations moving forward—and potentially their role within it.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between head coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2023 season.
Player: Mark Robinson
Position: Inside Linebacker
Experience: 2 Years
In a year in which the Steelers lost two starting linebackers due to injury, Mark Robinson played 151 defensive snaps. I don’t know how to spin that into a positive, but you can try your hand if you wish to do so. Then you can work on explaining how Mykal Walker played 294 snaps and Myles Jack played 131.
A seventh-round pick out of Ole Miss in 2022, the Steelers took Robinson on as a project. A converted running back, he is still essentially learning how to play linebacker, but they need contributors now. To his credit, he established himself as a core special teams player in 2023, and that buys him more time.
At the very least, he should manage to play out his rookie contract, on which he still has two more years. Danny Smith hates to lose guys who give him 302 snaps—exactly twice as many as he played on defense. Give your 300 snaps on special teams and you’ll keep your scholarship to find a way on defense.
Some suggested Robinson might compete for a starting job in 2023, but that never came close to happening. He played all of four snaps in the first eight games of the season prior to starter Cole Holcomb’s injury. While he played 41 the very next week, his playing time fell back to zero the following two weeks.
Perhaps we can point out that he played slightly more later in the year. He logged 23 snaps in the Steelers’ playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills, his third-highest snap count of the year. Pittsburgh obviously isn’t writing Robinson off, but we won’t know until after the draft how realistic a shot he has to contribute meaningfully on defense in 2024.
