Cassius Marsh cannot be the first EDGE off the bench for Steelers

Cassius Marsh is currently set to be a primary backup edge defender in 2021, but here’s why the Pittsburgh Steelers must do better.

To the surprise of many, the Pittsburgh Steelers were actually in the hunt to acquire pass rusher Ryan Kerrigan this offseason. After losing both Bud Dupree and Ola Adeniyi to the Titans this offseason, Kerrigan would have been a most welcomed addition. However, the former Pro Bowler elected to sign with the Philidelphia Eagles.

Despite their attempt to add talent to the position, the Steelers now almost seem complacent with the guys they have on the roster. Keith Butler recently addressed the media – noting that they are looking for “a third guy who is going to step up.” He also mentioned Cassius Marsh as a guy who could potentially give the team help at the position.

Marsh has been in the league for a while now as a journeyman. The Steelers are his seventh team since joining the league in 2014. Despite his time spent with different organizations, Marsh is not the guy the Steelers can afford to have as their primary backup in 2021.

Though he turns 29 years old in July, Marsh has just 9 career starts under his belt, and his production has been extremely limited. Though his best season came in 2018 with San Francisco, he proved to be nothing more than a serviceable stopgap player. Three years later, he shouldn’t even be afforded that opportunity.

There’s probably a reason Marsh was on three different teams during the 2020 season alone. Though he played just 150 snaps last season and did not qualify for a ranking, according to Pro Football Focus, he was pitiful during that time with an overall grade of 38.9.

What options do the Steelers have

Pittsburgh should still give Cassius Marsh a chance to compete for some sort of role with the team in 2021, but we can’t expect him to get any better this late in his NFL career. outside of him, the only other reasonable option as a backup edge defender on the team seems to be sixth-round rookie, Quincy Roche.

I was a big Roche fan coming out of Miami. Though he doesn’t have elite size or athletic traits, he wins with an impressive arsenal of pass-rush moves and some bend around the edge. Still, a late-round rookie should not be counted on in such a large capacity from the gate.

Because of this, the Steelers really need to be exploring other free-agent options. Missing out on Ryan Kerrigan doesn’t have to mean the end of the road for this team. There are other quality players out there with starting experience who can come in if T.J. Watt or Alex Highsmith were to go down.

Last year, Watt seemed completely gassed by the time playoffs rolled around, and I have little doubt that he is being asked to do too much. The Steelers need an option better than Cassius Marsh to come in and spell snaps from Watt and Highsmith, and he can’t be the answer as the primary backup edge rusher in 2021.