While he’s only played three snaps as an edge rusher this season, Isaiahh Loudermilk could have an expanded role on the EDGE, head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters during his weekly press conference Tuesday. Loudermilk played one snap as a LEO in Weeks 1 and 2, and again in Week 5, but Pittsburgh’s EDGE depth is decimated with Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, and DeMarvin Leal all out for Week 6 because of injuries.
That could opena door for Loudermilk.
“We’ve done that in the past, and we will, obviously, moving forward. He’s just a versatile guy. He and Leal are defensive linemen that are participants in special teams. Both guys are on kickoff, and I think that speaks to their unique skill sets and allows him to position flexibility to slide outside and give us some big-man presence when lines get short, certainly,” Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel.
Much like Leal, the majority of Loudermilk’s experience is on the defensive line, as 28 of his 53 defensive snaps this season have come as a defensive tackle. He’s a little bit bigger for a true edge role, but it’s something that the Steelers feel he’s capable of doing and might have to do more with the injuries to the room right now.
Loudermilk likely won’t start, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he got more than one snap off the edge. While T.J. Watt is the only healthy OLB of the top four that Pittsburgh started the year with, Jeremiah Moon is back in the fold and played his first game against Dallas on Sunday after being activated off IR.
The Steelers also have depth options on the practice squad in Eku Leota and Adetokunbo Ogundeji. Leota played the first two games of the season with the Carolina Panthers and had a sack in Week 1. Ogundeji has 32 games of experience, including starting 16 games for the Atlanta Falcons in 2023.
While only one will likely be elevated from the practice squad, whoever that is and Moon will likely be ahead of Loudermilk, who could serve as the fourth outside linebacker while also providing defensive line depth. It’s an intriguing option, but as Tomlin said, Loudermilk is on the kick-coverage team, and they like his athleticism and think it can work on the edge.
It’s an interesting experiment for the Steelers, but they have to get creative with how banged up they are at a premium position. Even though Loudermilk’s experience is limited at the position, with just two preseason EDGE snaps and three in the regular season this year, it’s still some level of experience. He can handle the position so it’s not a total shot in the dark for the Steelers as they look to mitigate some of their losses.
