Over the last two seasons as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, veteran inside linebacker Elandon Roberts has been a downhill, physical presence for the Black and Gold, serving as a tone setter.
He’s been everything the Steelers were hoping he was when they signed him to a two-year deal in free agency ahead of the 2023 season.
And in a piece for Pro Football Focus Thursday morning, Dalton Wasserman highlighted the old-school linebacker as a free agent — out of 24 players set to hit the open market — the Steelers can’t afford to lose.
“Roberts has never been a true three-down linebacker, but he provides excellent value in run support. Only three other qualified defenders at any position in 2024 recorded a higher PFF run-defense grade than Roberts’ 91.0 mark,” Wasserman writes. “Given Patrick Queen’s and Payton Wilson’s struggles in that area this past season, the Steelers would be wise to give the veteran Roberts another short-term deal to do what he does best.”
Playing the run is what Elandon Roberts does best, and he does it with force, too.
In 2024, Roberts played 525 snaps defensively, splitting time with rookie linebacker Payton Wilson. When he was on the field, though, he made his presence known.
Roberts graded out at a 91.0 against the run from PFF, putting him third among all off-ball linebackers in 2024 behind only Cleveland’s Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Washington’s Bobby Wagner. Pretty great company to be in for Roberts.
On top of his stellar run defense grade, Roberts had 31 true run stops, though he did miss 11 tackles on the season.
What Roberts provided against the run was a physical presence and a reckless abandon while working downhill, wanting to dish out punishment to running backs and offensive linemen alike.
There was the big hit at the goal line in Week 5 against the Dallas Cowboys, forcing a fumble that the Steelers were unfortunately unable to recover, which would have won the game.
One analyst called it one of the greatest plays of the 2024 season. It certainly was a jaw-dropping play.
Later in the season, Elandon Roberts laid the wood to Cleveland’s Ethan Pocic on a run play, blasting the pulling center in Week 14 at Acrisure Stadium, earning praise from Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin after the fact.
The Steelers had some issues stopping the run at times during the 2024 season, but Roberts was one of the answers to those struggles time and time again. He might not be a true, three-down linebacker in today’s NFL, which all teams covet. But he’s an old-school linebacker who wants to knock someone’s block off and drags his team into the fight time and time again.
The Steelers need that moving forward, a guy who isn’t going to say much but is going to lead by example and let his pads do the talking. Roberts turns 31 in April, but he still has some effective, punishing football left in him and wants to finish his career in Pittsburgh.
Don’t let him get away.
