Will Steelers new LB Joe Schobert play more than Devin Bush in 2021?

There have been reports that Joe Schobert is going to wear the ‘green dot’ this year. Will he earn more snaps for Steelers than Devin Bush in 2021? 

The ‘green dot’ is almost like a status symbol in the NFL today. With modern technology, a defensive coordinator can call a play directly into the helmet of the player with the ‘green dot’, who then relays the play to his teammates.

This ‘green dot’ is typically reserved for a defensive leader (usually at the linebacker position) who can make necessary on-field adjustments as needed. The ‘green dot’ belonged to Ryan Shazier before his career-ending spinal cord injury, and it was eventually passed on to Devin Bush.

After trading up to the 10th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Bush was meant to be the future leader of this defense – one who could fill the shoes of Shazier. Now perhaps that might not be the plan – at least for 2021.

The Pittsburgh Steelers recently traded for former Pro Bowl linebacker, Joe Schobert. Since becoming a starter in 2017, Schobert has been outrageously productive and has led all NFL linebackers with 7 interceptions over the past two seasons.

Recently, Brooke Pryor of ESPN posted a tweet after speaking with Schobert. According to the report, the plan is for Schobert to be used as the dime backer and to wear the ‘green dot’ for the Steelers:

Will Schobert out-snap Bush for Steelers in 2021?

Because of these recent reports, it warrants asking: Is Joe Schobert going to earn more playing time than Devin Bush this year?

This is a question I wouldn’t have ever bothered asking a few weeks ago. Though he is coming off an ACL tear, the Steelers traded elite draft capital to go up and land Bush, and the plan was for him to be the next in line of a string of great Pittsburgh linebackers.

With just 21 career games under his belt, it’s clearly far too early to properly assess the type of player Bush will be in his NFL career. Certainly, there were Pro Bowl aspirations for the talented linebacker coming out of Michigan in 2019, as Bush was a former Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award winner and a team captain. Combine that with outrageous athletic traits, and you have the makings of what could be one of the best linebackers in the NFL.

Still, if these reports are true, there must be a reason why the Steelers would rather Schobert have the ‘green dot’ this year. Though Schobert is a very productive linebacker and former Pro Bowler, it seems odd that the team would take the ‘green dot’ from Bush just three weeks before the start of the NFL season.

If Schobert does indeed get the ‘green dot’, this likely means that he will be the one linebacker on the team who rarely leaves the field, as he is the only player who can get the play calls directly into his helmet from Keith Butler. This also means that Schobert is likely to be the lone off-ball linebacker on the field in dime packages – something Devin Bush did prior to his injury.

Perhaps we don’t know the whole story yet, or maybe this is Pittsburgh’s way of making it easier on Devin Bush or easing him back into action. However, as of now, it certainly looks like there’s a path for Joe Schobert to get more playing time than Bush in 2021.