Steelers starters who desperately need to be replaced in 2023

Devin Bush simply isn’t the answer at linebacker

Whether it was because they really believed in him or they wanted to save face, Pittsburgh Steelers tried their very best to make it work with Devin Bush. At the end of the day, however, he’s just an average NFL linebacker — and that’s even after taking a big step up from his 2021 season.

To me, this isn’t a situation like the Steelers had last year with Terrell Edmunds. While Bush’s contract will expire following the 2022 season, I don’t know how I feel about bringing him back. Yes, he is still a pretty young football player, but there’s no evidence to suggest that he’s going to be anything more than a replacement-level player at the position.

I wouldn’t mind keeping Bush around in the Robert Spillane role as the first linebacker off the bench, but as a former 10th overall pick, he’s never going to go for that. Because of his draft status, there is going to be a team out there who is willing to overpay, I would assume.

The best thing Pittsburgh can do is try to find an upgrade. It’s possible this could be accomplished with as little as a day-two pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Devin Bush simply hasn’t been worth a fraction of the draft capital spent to acquire him, and the team needs to look for options at the position that could help make a bigger impact on defense.