The Steelers will tell you they have confidence in Vince Williams as the heir apparent to Lawrence Timmons at inside linebacker. And perhaps they do.
It’s also quite possible the Steelers believe they could use an upgrade at the position. Certainly there are signs pointing in that direction.
First, they tried to sign New England’s Dont’a Hightower in free agency. That failed. Now they’re bringing in two of the top inside linebackers in the NFL draft for visits on consecutive days.
One day after Jarrad Davis of Florida took a top 30 visit to the UMPC Rooney Sports Complex, Vanderbilt’s Zach Cunningham is there Friday, along with Illinois outside linebacker Carroll Phillips.
Cunningham (6-4, 230) is projected as a first-round pick and rated the No. 25 player overall by nfldraftscout.com. That’s right in the range where the Steelers will be selecting with the No. 30 overall pick. Davis is the No. 53 overall player, according to nfldraftscout.com, and the next best inside linebacker prospect.
It could be the Steelers are merely doing their homework on players at a position of need. Thirty prospects will walk through those doors over the next few weeks and the vast majority won’t get drafted by the Steelers.
But it is getting hard to ignore the Steelers targeting inside linebackers. And they’re not mid-round targets who figure to grow into roles as Williams did. Hightower obviously would have stepped in as a starter and anyone drafted in the first or second round would do the same. It might not be in the opening week, but they’d be starters as rookies.
Phillips (6-3, 242) is an outside linebacker and a mid-round prospect. But that’s not the reason they should draft him.
The reason they should draft him is he is the nephew of famed Miami rapper Luther Campbell. Now there’s some entertaining material for beat writers.
You can read more about Phillips here in this NFL.com profile that projects him as a backup in the NFL.
The Steelers had 14 prospects in for visits this week. Here is the list:
April 3: Patrick Mahomes, QB; Joshua Dobbs, QB; Joshua Reynolds, WR; Kenny Golloday, WR
April 4: Takk McKinley, OLB; Derek Rivers, OLB; Jourdan Lewis, CB; Montae Nicholson, S.
April 6: Chris Godwin, WR; James Conner, RB; Budda Baker, S; Josh Jones, S; Jarrad Davis, LB.
April 7: Zach Cunningham, LB; Carroll Phillips, LB.
First Published: April 7, 2017, 4:36 p.m.