Steelers 53-man roster prediction: Post-preseason game vs Eagles
By Tyler Jaggi
Steelers Off-Ball Linebacker (5)
Devin Bush, Joe Schobert, Robert Spillane, Buddy Johnson, Marcus Allen
A shocking trade happened last during the Steelers preseason game against the Eagles as Pittsburgh was able to acquire LB Joe Schobert from Jacksonville. He’ll start over from the gate over Robert Spillane to give Steelers a solid linebacker duo. Steelers have five or six realistic inside linebacker candidates at a position where they will likely keep five guys.
The starters are pretty much locked in stone at this point with Bush and Schobert, while Spillane will likely operate as the primary backup to both spots. It will likely be a “red-shirt” year for Buddy Johnson to learn the position and get used to the speed of the NFL. He might see some special team snaps and the occasional defensive snaps.
The final linebacker spot will come down to Ulysees Gilbert or Marcus Allen. Steelers website’s depth chart currently has Allen over Gilbert and he has also outplayed him thus far. For being a very good athlete, Gilbert hasn’t been able to cover as well as we would have hoped and he has struggled to tackle consistently this summer. I’ll give the nod to Marcus Allen for the final linebacker spot in 2021.