Building an NFL roster isn’t your normal hiring process. There are no set qualifications. Having a Bachelor’s degree alone doesn’t cut it. For coaches, it’s more of an eye-test. For Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebackers coach Aaron Curry, there are a couple boxes that each player he’s responsible for must check.
“If I had to write up a job description for a Steelers inside linebacker, I’d say you gotta be enthusiastic, tough, violent and play smart,” Curry said during mandatory minicamp via the team’s YouTube channel.
That’s an important yet conflicting skillset on paper. Playing smart while still being violent. Enthusiastic but playing under control and within the confines of the Steelers’ system. They are core values that precede Curry and anyone on this coaching staff, dating back to the days of Jack Lambert, Jack Ham, and the underrated Andy Russell.
Curry’s 2024 group will look to do the same. On paper, they have the right makeup. Patrick Queen is in the prime of his career with the athleticism to carry out any assignment the team asks of him. Elandon Roberts might fit Curry’s definition perfectly. While he’ll never be an all-star, Roberts is a tone setter who attacks the run, shows a high football IQ and is a leader who displayed toughness by gutting out injuries late last year.
Payton Wilson shows plenty of promise as a do-it-all player with rare maturity for being a rookie, though he’s an older prospect at 24. Cole Holcomb played well last year before suffering a terrible season-ending knee injury. Rehab has reportedly gone well and he could play by Week One.
Curry has been given an exciting group. No position has undergone as many changes and additions over the past two years as inside linebacker. The entire group was turned over from 2022 to 2023 as Devin Bush, Myles Jack and Robert Spillane departed, while Queen and Wilson were big investments for the short and long-term.
Pittsburgh’s defense will be defined by its front seven. The defensive line has to sort itself out behind Cam Heyward, but the inside linebackers group has a chance to be a special. With T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig bookending them at outside linebacker, it could be an overall unit that NFL offenses won’t like facing.
