One of the best defenses in the league lost a dynamic linebacker for the year with an ACL tear. Could the Steelers shuffle their lineup to fill in for Devin Bush?
In his second year in the league, Devin Bush wasn’t perfect, but he was improving. The young linebacker turned just 22 years old before training camp, but much was expected of him in 2020 and beyond. The Steelers traded up to the 10th overall pick to land Bush in the 2019 NFL draft. After a solid rookie season, he looked to expand on his performance and become an integral part of the defense moving forward.
Unfortunately, Bush will have to wait until next year to make an impact on this football team. The Steelers linebacker went down during with a non-contact injury against the Cleveland Browns in Week 6, which was later confirmed to be a torn ACL, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. His 2020 season is over.
Since hearing the devastating news, fans have been racking their brains for solutions as to what Pittsburgh could do at the linebacker position. Though Robert Spillane filled in nicely, his performance did come when Pittsburgh already had an enormous lead in the second half, and he wasn’t asked to do much but go downhill.
While Spillane stands to play a solid role moving forward, perhaps the answer isn’t just putting him into Bush’s shoes; rather, shuffling Pittsburgh’s defense in certain packages.
Why Steelers could use Terrell Edmunds in Bush’s role in certain formations
Now three years into his NFL career, it would be extremely hard for Terrell Edmunds to transition to a full-time linebacker (though whether or not he should have been playing here all along is a different argument). However, that doesn’t mean that the Steelers couldn’t shuffle some players around in certain packages.
When in their base formation, there’s no need to change a thing. Pittsburgh has been dominant here, and they can plug Spillane in at Mack linebacker next to Vince Williams. Unfortunately, the Steelers may have a big issue on obvious passing downs.
Spillane may be a bit more athletic than Vince Williams, but turning and running with tight ends down the field or controlling the boundaries with his speed won’t come as effortlessly to him as it did to Devin Bush. When the Steelers make a switch to nickel or dime formations on what they believe to be passing downs, Spillane may not be the man for the job.
To get your best lineup on the field, perhaps they should bump Terrell Edmunds down into the box as a hybrid linebacker and slid Sean Davis in at strong safety. Davis has a year of starting experience of his own at strong safety, while Edmunds does his best work near the line of scrimmage anyway.
Though the Steelers would be taking some bulk off the field, they would be replacing it with significantly more speed and coverage ability. Likewise, they could include more sub-packages that include defensive backs like Cameron Sutton and possibly even Justin Layne.
I’m not advocating that Edmunds becomes a full-time linebacker at this point in his career. However, the Steelers will need to find an answer for their sub-package defenses if Robert Spillane doesn’t prove to be an every-down linebacker.