Steelers off-ball linebackers
I say off-ball linebackers in an effort to avoid outdated terminology that has some fans lumping edge defenders and linebackers all into one group. Pittsburgh’s linebackers were arguably the weakest positional group on their roster in 2022, and while they made some attempts to improve it, I’m not convinced it got much better.
Last year, Joe Schobert and Devin Bush looked completely expendable. Schobert is no longer with the team, but Pittsburgh added Myles Jack this offseason. Jack, however, graded out even worse than Schobert over the past few years, and there’s no guarantee that he will help improve this unit.
When Jack was drafted back in 2016, he was flagged medically due to a degenerative knee issue. Perhaps these issues are catching up with Jack and it’s the reason he wasn’t very good for Jacksonville in 2021. Obviously, we hope both he and Bush can take a big step up from the players we saw last year.
The only other effort the Steelers made to improve in this department was drafting a widely unknown linebacker in Ole Miss’s Mark Robinson in the seventh round. Robinson will likely be fighting for a roster spot in 2022.