INDIANAPOLIS — The best teams in the NFL are able to exploit the weaknesses of their opponents. And there wasn’t any better example of that than on that snowy Monday afternoon in Orchard Park, N.Y., last month when the Bills diced up the middle of the Steelers defense with such ease in an AFC wild card game that it seemed like the Bills were practicing on air.
Two Josh Allen touchdown passes to wide open tight ends and a 52-yard stroll through the middle of the defense staked the Bills to a 21-7 lead in a game they would win 31-17.
The four inside linebackers who played in that game for the Steelers were starters Elandon Roberts and Mykal Walker and reserves Myles Jack and Mark Robinson.
The only one who is assured of a spot on the roster next season is Roberts. Walker and Jack were signed off the street in the middle of the season after another run of bad luck turned a promising season into another playoff dud after injuries devastated the inside linebackers room.
General manager Omar Khan thought he had solved his problematic position group last year when he signed Roberts, Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander as free agents. And for the first half of the season, signing that trio looked like an ingenious move, as they helped the Steelers defense thrive.
But after Holcomb and Alexander suffered season-ending injuries five days apart in November, the Steelers defense was never the same again. They were signing inside linebackers on a weekly basis to try to find players who could fill the void, but to no avail.
And with Holcomb’s status uncertain given the severity of his knee injury and Alexander set to hit free agency again, inside linebacker is a position the Steelers are scouting hard this week at the NFL combine.
Finding capable inside linebackers has been a long-standing problem for the Steelers going back to Ryan Shazier’s career-ending spinal cord injury in 2017, but they’re not alone. Every team in the NFL is facing similar challenges.
“It’s harder to find good inside linebackers anymore,” Broncos coach Sean Payton lamented earlier this week.
Unsurprisingly, this is another draft class that is not blessed with quality depth at the position. And draft analysts are torn on who the top players are.
Edgerrin Cooper of Texas A&M is NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah’s top inside linebacker and the only one with a first-round grade. Lance Zierlein has Cooper as his third-rated linebacker, with Michigan’s Junior Colson as his top prospect at the position.
“I’m a linebacker who can do multiple things,” Cooper said. “You really can’t beat that.”
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. should be a familiar name among NFL fans. His father, Jeremiah Trotter, played inside linebacker for the Eagles, Commanders and Buccaneers from 1998-2009 and made four Pro Bowls.
“I’ve never shied away from being the son of Jeremiah Trotter,” he said. “I feel like I can play all three downs. My dad was bigger, but he says I’m more athletic than him. We have different playing styles and different body types.”
Trotter refers to himself as an old-style linebacker in a new-age body. He’s a likely second- or third-round pick.
One of the more intriguing linebackers in this draft is NC State’s Payton Wilson. He’s a former state high school wrestling champion, but he’s also expected to test off the charts on Thursday when the linebackers work out at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“I feel like if I get my hands on you, you’re going to the ground,” said Wilson, who is Jeremiah’s 47th-ranked prospect on his top 50 board. “I understand leverage and torque. Wrestling is different. In football, if you mess up, you have 10 other guys to help you out. In wrestling, if you mess up, you’re going on top of your head and you’re getting embarrassed in front of your mom and your dad and your friends. So just that mentality, that anger and that aggression it instills in you is there. I’ve been wrestling since I was 4.”
Wilson’s draft stock could be dependent upon the medical exams he underwent on Tuesday in Indianapolis. He’s already had two knee surgeries — one in high school and one as a freshman in college. He also had a shoulder injury that ended his 2021 season.
But Wilson bounced back with two very good seasons in 2022 and 2023, leading the Wolfpack defense as the signal caller last season.
“Early in my career, I did have a lot of injuries,” Wilson said. “These last two years, I’ve been really healthy. I’ve put on some extra weight. I’m on nutrition and maintenance plans to keep me healthy. I feel like what I have going on is going to help me play this game for a long time in the NFL. I’m not scared of injuries. At the end of the day, they’re inevitable. I’m going to play every play like it’s my last, and whatever happens happens.”
Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and @rayfitt1 on X
First Published: February 28, 2024, 5:23 p.m.
Updated: February 28, 2024, 7:41 p.m.
