Last season, the inside linebacker position was a definite weakness of the Pittsburgh Steelers roster. As soon as it was possible, the Steelers staff and front office cleaned house at inside linebacker. Gone are Robert Spillane, Myles Jack and Devin Bush. In are Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts.
Pro Football Focus put out their rankings of the 32 best off-ball linebackers in the NFL and Holcomb was the only Steelers linebacker to make the list and he did it in the bottom tier.
This sounds awful and frankly, it is. But take comfort in the fact that none of the linebackers the Steelers either released or chose not to re-sign make the Top 32 at all. That’s progress, right?
The Steelers are hopeful that Holcomb can bring improved athleticism to the position and give the Steelers defense a little more scheme flexibility. Holcomb is still working his way back from a foot injury suffered last season so it remains to be seen if he can return to 100 percent.
