VINCE WILLIAMS
Inside Linebacker
Once the Steelers signed Mark Barron as an unrestricted free agent and traded up 10 spots in the first round to pick Devin Bush, it seemed as though the team might be phasing Vince Williams out of the mix on defense. But during the almost three full games Williams missed this season with a hamstring injury, his value as a run-stuffing inside linebacker was easy to recognize.
Williams returned for this game vs. the Ravens, and he didn't need a lot of time to warm up to the speed of NFL regular season football. Williams led the Steelers with nine tackles, including one for loss, he had one of the Steelers' five sacks, and he broke up a pass in the 26-23 overtime loss to the Ravens at Heinz Field.
Williams is the Steelers Digest Player of the Week.
Also considered were Devin Bush, who had eight tackles and one of the team's three interceptions; Mason Rudolph, who completed 13-of-20 (65 percent) for 131 yards, with a 35-yard touchdown pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster, no interceptions, and a rating of 100.2 before being knocked out of the game on a helmet-to-helmet hit by Earl Thomas; Devin Bush, who had eight tackles and an interception; T.J. Watt, who had five tackles, including three for loss, and a sack; Mike Hilton, who had four tackles, including one for loss, and an interception; Cam Heyward, who had four tackles, including one for loss, plus a sack and two hits on the quarterback; and Chris Boswell, who was 3-for-3 on field goal attempts to up his 2019 ledger to 10-for-10.
