3 Pittsburgh Steelers who could surprise us all in 2020

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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – AUGUST 29: Ulysees Gilbert #54 of the Pittsburgh Steelers during warm ups before their preseason game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on August 29, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) /

LB Ulysees Gilbert III

This is a player that isn’t getting a lot of recognition, but Ulysees Gilbert has a chance to explode onto the scene in his second NFL sesaon. Gilbert recently recovered from a fractured L5 vertebra injury that he suffered in 2019 that cut his sesaon to just 7 games.

However, with Mark Barron gone, Gilbert can step into a much larger role in 2020. Last year, Vince Williams played just 37 percent of defensive snaps for the Steelers, as they often looked for faster lineups with more coverage ability. In comparison, Barron played 69 percent of snaps despite missing a game.

In his first preseason, Gilbert was thoroughly impressive in both coverage and as a blitzer – recording a sack and interception in limited action. Gilbert tested as an excellent athlete at his Akron Pro Day last year, and there is plenty of reason to believe he could immediately jump into a much larger role this season.

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