3 reasons Robert Spillane could be a surprise cut by the Steelers in 2021
By Tommy Jaggi
Robert Spillane has been awful this summer
Going into the 2021 offseason, I thought that off-ball linebacker could be a weakness on Pittsburgh’s defense again in the upcoming season. After having some starting experience under his belt, I was hoping to see much more from Spillane at Steelers training camp and in the preseason. I did not.
What we did see was Spillane getting consistently dusted in pass coverage drills – this is a part of his game that was exposed all summer. In addition, his tackling angles and pursuit have been hard to watch this preseason. One particular play against the Lions stands out vividly in my head, when Spillane took a bad angle, was late to the ball carrier, and dove without even coming close to making contact.
The fact of the matter is that Spillane is just a very limited athlete for his position. At his Pro Day in 2018, Spillane tested as just a 19th percentile athlete at the linebacker position, according to his Relative Athletic Score. His nearly 4.8 speed caps what he can do in space against much faster players in the NFL, and his 10-yard split ranked in the 14th percentile.
Robert Spillane can still offer some value as a special teams player (this is where he first made his mark), but he’s a liability on defense who doesn’t have a niche. The fact that he looks significantly worse this summer is a concern.