Here is the next in a position-by-position series on the Steelers at the conclusion of the 2023 season as they head into the start of the NFL free agent period, which opens March 13.
Linebackers (12): T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Markus Golden, Nick Herbig, Kyron Johnson, Elandon Roberts, Cole Holcomb, Kwon Alexander, Mark Robinson, Mykal Walker, Blake Martinez, Myles Jack
A Last Look at 2023
Yes, the Steelers used 12 different players at linebacker this season as the position, specifically at inside linebacker, was crushed by injuries.
The Steelers began the season with eight linebackers on the roster – T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Markus Golden, Nick Herbig, Elandon Roberts, Cole Holcomb, Kwon Alexander and Mark Robinson.
But midseason season-ending injuries to Holcomb and Roberts began a revolving door at inside linebacker, with Roberts being the glue that held it all together.
Outside linebacker was much more stable, as Watt and Highsmith teamed with Golden and Herbig to combine for 33 of the team's 47 sacks.
Watt led the NFL in sacks for a third time with 19, becoming the first player since sacks became an official statistic in 1982 to do so. He also provided 19 tackles for a loss, 36 quarterback hits, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and an interception, and is again a leading candidate for NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Opposite Watt, Highsmith saw his sack total dip to 7 after having a career-best 14.5 in 2022. But that doesn't mean he wasn't effective. Highsmith had 18 quarterback hits, eight tackles for a loss, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.
Golden and Herbig provided the Steelers with their best backups at the position in more than a decade, producing 7 combined sacks, 11 tackles for a loss, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and 13 quarterback hits in just 421 combined defensive snaps.
Herbig, a fourth-round draft pick, also led the Steelers in special teams snaps with 352.
With all of the injuries at inside linebacker, the Steelers had six different inside linebackers play 131 or more snaps, including Jack, who was talked out of retirement late in the season and added to the practice squad, getting called up for each of the team's final three games and in the playoffs to play significant snaps.
Roberts led the group in snaps played with 581 and led the Steelers with 101 tackles, while also recording 2.5 sacks and 10 tackles for a loss.
Initially, he began the season in a rotation with Holcomb and Alexander, but Holcomb suffered a broken leg in a Week 9 game against the Titans and Alexander suffered an Achilles' tendon injury the following week against Green Bay.
Holcomb had 54 tackles, two forced fumbles and four tackles for a loss before his injury, while Alexander produced 41 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and five tackles for a loss prior to his injury.
The Steelers initially tried Mykal Walker, a practice squad callup who had been a starter in Atlanta, as a primary replacement, then began mixing in Robinson and Jack, as well.
The defense, particularly against opposing tight ends, suffered after the injuries. After being among the best defenses in the league against tight ends early in the season, the Steelers finished 20th overall, allowing 86 receptions for 864 yards and seven touchdowns to the position in 2023.
One Stat That Stood Out
After the Steelers produced just one sack, no turnovers and nine tackles for a loss at the inside linebacker position in 2022, the Steelers remade the entire position, with Robinson, a seventh-round draft pick, as the only holdover.
The Steelers got much more splash out of the position in 2023, regardless of who was out there. In 2023, the inside linebackers had 5.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, two interceptions and 23 tackles for a loss.
Looking Ahead to 2024
The makeover of the position in 2023 was working pretty well until the injuries hit. And even at that, the Steelers got more playmaking out of their inside linebackers than they had in 2022.
Of the foursome with which the Steelers began the season, only Alexander is headed toward free agency.
The Steelers could choose to run things back with Holcomb, Roberts and Robinson.
Holcomb's return from his severely broken leg could be the key to that.
"He has a target date in terms of readiness there, but it's still probably early," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said at his season-ending press conference. "I'll have a more definitive posture on that probably when we get closer to OTAs and we start speculating about some of those things then."
And while the Steelers got more splash out of the position in 2023 than they had the year before, the constant rotation there because of injuries was difficult in the second half of the season.
The Steelers went with veterans in free agency in 2023 and got the kind of production they desired. But older players also come with longer injury histories.
"We were getting better production from that group, ball production, forced fumbles, turnovers, interceptions, etc.," Tomlin said. "But the attrition component was a treacherous thing to navigate. And so, you know, we got some decisions to make around that position particularly and others, but the health factor was significant."
