Getting an inside LB not always an easy selection
INDIANAPOLIS — Four years ago, the Steelers believed they were one player away from making their defense dominant again. Head coachMike Tomlin and thengeneral manager Kevin Colbert saw how their defense struggled in the 2017 postseason and throughout the 2018 season after Ryan Shazier’s career was cut short due to his spinal cord injury.
So in the spring of 2019, it became their goal to find an off-ball linebacker like Shazier — someone who could run sideline to sideline and excel as a run stopper as well as cover in the passing game. They had such conviction that Devin Bush could ultimately replace Shazier that they traded their first- and second-round picks that year and a third-round choice in 2020 to move up 10 spots on draft night to select Bush.
For a franchise that usually wins the draft, the decision to target Bush is one of their biggest failures. Now, with Bush on his way out of town, they’re back at the drawing board trying to piece together the middle of their defense once again.
But this time around, there’s not nearly as much buzz about them finding an inside linebacker early in the draft. Bush busting should give the Steelers pause about where they should prioritize the position, because as they and other teams across the league have discovered, it’s one of the most difficult positions for NFL teams to scout.
“It’s a little bit of a projection just because of how the colleges are playing and depending on what conference you’re watching, how they’re playing these off-the-ball linebackers,” Steelers general manager Omar Khan said. “You know, it’s a projection, but you trust that your evaluators and your coaches will be able to see the ability and we can identify the guys who actually are a good fit into what we want to do.”
This year’s top off-ball linebacker prospect is Arkansas’ Drew Sanders, who is a perfect example of the type of project NFL teams have to study at the position. Sanders was the top recruit coming out of the state of Texas when he committed in 2018 to the University of Alabama, where an injury and a crowded outside linebackers room stocked with other NFL talent stalled his development.
The reason Sanders (6foot-5, 233 pounds) transferred to Arkansas was because Razorbacks coaches planned to play him on the inside, where he felt like his athleticism would allow him to flourish. He excelled in his only season with the Razorbacks and his draft stock is on the rise. But his lack of experience inside, coupled with his overall inexperience, makes it a tough evaluation,
“I played outside linebacker for two years and I played inside linebacker for one year,” Sanders said. “I’m pretty raw at both spots. There is a lot to improve on, but I feel pretty comfortable that I can cover the pass, get after the quarterback and stop the run.”
Sanders is the only off-ball linebacker who consistently makes appearances in firstround mock drafts. After Sanders, the group of off-ball linebackers isn’t terribly deep. There are only a small number of prospects who are considered second- or thirdround picks.
Colleges are giving the NFL talented players with athletic traits to excel in the league,but oftentimes off-ball linebackers enter the league with the “hybrid” tag. Many of them don’t have a full-time position and spent their college careers bouncing around at different positions.
Clemson’s Trenton Simpson (6-4, 240) fits that designation. He was used as an outside linebacker, inside linebacker and safety with the Tigers. Back in 2020, Isaiah Simmons was cut from the same cloth at Clemson and was selected by Arizona with the No. 8 overall pick in the draft.
Simmons, however, had a tough transition to the NFL. Last season was his best season, but he might suffer the same fate as Bush did with the Steelers and not have his fifth-year option exercised this spring.
It can be a blessing and a curse, but Simpson is banking on his unique skill set being attractive to NFL teams.
“I feel like all teams like my versatility,” he said.
If NFL teams have learned one thing over the years, it’s that players with elite size and athletic traits don’t necessarily develop into elite NFL linebackers. For every Micah Parsons and Roquan Smith, there are examples like Devin Bush and Isaiah Simmons.
Many of the top inside linebackers in the NFL today weren’t household names coming out of college. Buffalo’s Matt Milano was named first-team All-Pro after last season, and he was not drafted until the fifth round of the 2017 draft. San Francisco’s Fred Warner, who also made first-team AllPro last year, was a thirdround pick in 2018. De’Vondre Campbell of the Packers made first-team All-Pro following the 2021 season, and he wasn’t selected until the fourth round of the 2016 draft.
With the Bush failure still fresh in their minds, waiting until Day 2 or even Day 3 of the draft to select their next inside linebacker might be a prudent move for the Steelers.