Rebuilding the Linebacking Corps

"No, I didn't do my job there. I miss-fit it. I just miss-fit it. A miss-fit is not fit. No, I just didn't get over to my gap. I was supposed to be on his other shoulder. (The big plays) are very frustrating, but I don't know if surprised is a proper word for it."

That quote was from Troy Polamalu describing why he was late and out of position on Dolphins running back Daniel Thomas's 55-yard run in the fourth quarter of Miami's Dec. 8 win over the Steelers at Heinz Field.  

In his own words, Troy just "mis-fit it."
That's because Troy was a misfit at the linebacker position and would never have been playing there if the Steelers had anybody else to do it in 2013.

Enter Ryan Shazier, the 2014 first-round draft choice.  

Linebackers coach Keith Butler said something interesting about the selection of Shazier:

"We couldn't pass him up when he was there. There were a lot of guys that we liked at that spot, but they were all drafted. So, when he came, a guy with that type of speed, you can't pass him up. He's going to make us immediately faster on defense."

We can speculate on which players Butler was referring to who were already drafted, but we can guess they were cornerbacks Justin Gilbert and Kyle Fuller, pass-rushing linebacker Anthony Barr, and wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr.

Not to discount the need for a top-notch corner or wide receiver, but if the drafting of Ryan Shazier in the first round of the NFL draft caught most of Steeler Nation by surprise because linebacker didn't seem to be "a position of need," it's only evidence that most people have short memories. 

Where were the linebackers?
As painful as it is, however, let's not forget how how invisible the linebackers were throughout most of the season, most glaringly in the losses to Miami and at Oakland (Oct. 27).

The linebackers are supposed to be the backbone of this defense. Too often last season,however, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls screamed in dismay, "Where are the linebackers?"

Glaringly Obvious
Throughout 2013, the Steelers surrendered five running plays of 48 yards or more, 12 pass plays of 40 yards or more, and 10 running plays that went for 15 yards or more. The linebackers were a big part of those breakdowns.

It took Jason Worilds until the final half of last season, the final year of his first contract, to play well enough to win a one-year mega-contract that salvaged his Steelers' career for one more season, at least.  

The rest of the linebacking corps was spotty at best. Lawrence Timmons played like a monster in some games (17 tackles vs. Baltimore; 12 vs. Oakland, with a broken hand), but not so well in others. 

Jarvis Jones showed flashes and improved late in the season, but for the most past he looked small, played small and was a step or so late to the play on most occasions. Jones needs to improve dramatically this year.

Most glaringly, perhaps, the loss of veteran Larry Foote to injury in the first game necessitated the play of rookie sixth-rounder Vince Williams, who played like a rookie sixth-rounder. Williams has the makings of a thumper, but by November he had lost his short-lived opportunity to seize a full-time job because he was too slow and was out of position too often.

Just as crucially, Williams showed an inability to cover receivers -- a real problem in a passing league. There's a place in the league for Williams; he can be a solid player. But Williams lost playing time in some situations to the much faster Terence Garvin, who actually looked good in flashes, but more so to Troy Polamalu. And that took Polamalu away from what he does best.

And all of that led to the drafting of Ryan Shazier. Besides which, Justin Gilbert, Kyle Fuller, Anthony Barr and Odell Beckham were gone. Inside linebacker really was a crucial "need position" for this draft. It was, in fact, a position of glaring need. 

As if to underscore that point, the Steelers added ILB Jordan Zumwalt in this sixth round (same as Vince Williams). Presumably, Zumwalt will work on special teams and compete with Williams and Sean Spence for a backup linebacker spot. He has a shot.

Not to hand Shazier a job or anything, but he should start immediately. If he doesn't, we're right back to where we were at the end of last season.

Safety first?

In 2013, the Steelers' defense allowed 12 pass plays of 40 yards or more. Twelve! Among the 10 running plays that went for 15 yards or more, five popped for 48 yards or more. The 10 running plays of 15 yards or more averaged a whopping 40.9 yards per carry.*

With a stunning total of 46 passing plays of 20 yards or more allowed and the 10 runs of 15 yards or more allowed (including five for 48+), something was clearly amiss at each level of the defense: the front end, the linebackers, and the back end. There were repeated glaring breakdowns at all three levels.

The safeties are the proverbial last line of defense, and it was clear to any casual observer that something was lacking at the safety position last year.  Ryan Clark's gone, and new addition Mike Mitchell takes his place.

All three levels were addressed in the off-season to an extent, with the additions of defensive lineman Cam Thomas, linebacker Arthur Moats, and safety Mike Mitchell.

Will Mike Mitchell be enough?
Mitchell is expected to be the biggest contributor, but will he be enough at safety? Most people seem to believe the Steelers are set at safety for this year, with Mitchell, Troy Polamalu, Shamarko Thomas and veteran Will Allen.

Yeah, maybe, but let's keep in mind that the overall defensive schemes are shifting: We are likely to see much less of the base 3-4-4 set (with two safeties on the field) and many more mixed sets comprised of five and six and even seven defensive backs.

In today's NFL, cover prowess at safety is as important as hitting ability. As valuable as Kam Chancellor, a big hitter, is to Seattle's defense, Earl Thomas's anticipation, range and ability to cover is just as important, if not more so.

With that in mind, it's not far-fetched to think the Steelers may address safety at some point in the draft. Whether that makes sense in the first round (Calvin Pryor or Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix), in the second (Deone Buchanon; Jimmy Ward) or later on will have to be determined on draft day.

Cover Safety vs. Cover Corner
When No. 15 comes up, if either Calvin Pryor or Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix is on the board along with one of the top corners (Darqueze Dennard, Justin Gilbert, Kyle Fuller), don't be too surprised if the Steelers go with the safety instead of the corner. And we all know how desperately the Steelers need a corner ... and a wide receiver (Odell Beckham, Jr.), and a rush linebacker (Anthony Barr), and an offensive tackle (Zack Martin), and help on the defensive line (Louis Nix), and tight end, etc. Take your pick.

If, however, one of the top safeties available is better than any of the corners available at No. 15, the Steelers should take him. Of the two safeties generally considered the best in the draft, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls like Pryor better than Clinton-Dix.

Again though, the Steelers have many needs, including corner; especially corner. Whether the team's braintrust considers a potentially great cover safety to be more valuable than a potentially very good cover corner -- or any other position -- well, it should be interesting to see how it shakes out in 10 days.

*Hat tip to Dave Bryan of Steelers Depot for these stats, 

and for highlighting the alarming number of "double 

explosive" plays allowed during 2013.

Where are the Linebackers?

A this point, there's no sense over-analyzing the play of the Steelers' linebackers this year. Just let's say, to be kind, that their performance has been "uneven" all season. At times, it seemed, they disappeared, and Joey Porter's Pit Bulls were screaming in dismay, "Where are the linebackers?!"

To be fair, Jason Worilds has come on strong over the past five games and has shown burst, explosiveness and playmaking ability that we saw little of during his first three seasons. Worilds has brought pressure and played well enough during this stretch that the Steelers must consider re-signing him in the off-season. It may be too late to retain Worilds, however, as greener pastures will surely beckon, just as they do every year for guys like Paul Kruger, Danell Ellerbee and Victor Butler, last year's darlings on the free-agent market.

Lawrence Timmons more or less gets a pass, although his own performance has been a bit up and down. He had a monster 17-tackle performance in the first Ravens game and 12 tackles (with a broken hand) in Oakland, but he had only five tackles last Sunday against Miami. Only five tackles from an inside linebacker isn't very good.

Overall, the performance at linebacker this year has been a problem, to say the least. So has the lack of depth, and plain talent.

Isn't there something lacking, or plain wrong, when Troy Polamalu is lined up linebacker a bit too often? There sure was last Sunday, when Polamalu was late moving laterally and got crushed on a block that helped free running back Daniel Thomas for his 55-yard run late in the fourth quarter.

"No, I didn't do my job there,'' Polamalu said. "I miss-fit it. I just miss-fit it. A miss-fit is not fit. No, I just didn't get over to my gap. I was supposed to be on his other shoulder. (The big plays) are very frustrating, but I don't know if surprised is a proper word for it. I've been on defenses that really have made their money on now allowing them at all or one in a season or two in a season.

That quote came from Dale Grdinic's fine write-up here over at Behind the Steel Curtain, profiling Polamalu's dual role at safety and linebacker this season.

Schematically, it may make sense for Polamalu to bring his special skills to the linebacker position for some plays, but he was positioned at linebacker for about 50 percent of the snaps against Miami. That means two things: (1) When at linebacker, he's not roaming on the back end as a safety; and (2) He wouldn't even be at linebacker if the Steelers had anybody else capable of doing it.  Larry Foote is on injured reserve, and nobody else at this point is either good enough or healthy enough to do the job.

Time for the young guys to step up.

One reason Polamalu has had to play so much at linebacker is the lack of progress (or talent) from some of the younger guys. Rookie sixth-rounder Vince Williams has played like a rookie sixth-rounder. He's shown some potential to be a thumper, maybe, but he's already lost, at least temporarily, his short-lived opportunity to seize the starter's job because he got caught out of position too often and was generally so slow that he was a real detriment. Just as crucially, he didn't show that he can cover receivers, and that's a problem in a passing league. He could develop, but he's not ready yet.

Neither is rookie first-rounder Jarvis Jones. He's played small, and he looks small, which has been a concern from the very first day we saw him at mini-camp. Jones has shown flashes at times, but at this point, he looks like "just a guy," and one with a 4.92 40 time. Small and slow is not what the Steelers need from their prize first-round draft choice. They need him to make an impact.

Undrafted free agent Terence Garvin hasn't gotten on the field a whole lot, but he may be the most impressive, so far, of the three rookies. He's relatively light but rangy and fast, and he's shown playmaking instincts in small sample sizes. There may be a place for him.

The other backups, Kion Wilson and Stevenson Sylvester, are hanging on as fringe players. Each is "just a guy."  Neither was able to seize the opportunity to nail down playing time once they had their opportunity. Injured Sean Spence may never see the field, as he is still recovering from the massive knee injury he suffered in his rookie training camp. Chris Carter has been a non-factor since he arrived in 2011.

Whither Woodley?
And that, finally, brings us to the Big Kahuna, the highest-paid linebacker on the team, LaMarr Woodley. Before getting hurt and missing three games before Miami, Woodley was leading the team in sacks with five, but he's had only 36 tackles (20 solo) in the 10 games he's played this year.

It all looked so promising when
LaMarr Woodley appeared on the cover of
the Sept. 2, 2011 issue of
Sports Illustrated. The SI cover curse?

This year, there have been four games Woodley has registered zero tackles. ZERO. He didn't even get in on any assisted tackles. Four games with ZERO tackles. Those four games were Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit and Oakland.

The best you could say about Woodley's performance is that it has been sporadically okay -- but he hasn't been the linebacker who showed enough a few years ago that the Steelers signed him to a $61.5 million contract. He's been injury prone ever since signing that deal and just not as productive as he was for about two years beforehand, when he was an absolute beast as the bookend opposite James Harrison.

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls don't necessarily agree with people who say that Woodley got "fat and happy" -- and out of shape-- after signing that deal.  Yet the production and the impact hasn't been there, although he entered this season apparently determined to show otherwise.

Columnist Dejean Kovacevic noted the following about LaMarr Woodley and his performance during last Sunday's game vs. the Dolphins:

LaMarr Woodley lost his spot at left outside linebacker in being shifted to the right for Jason Worilds, already humbling for a $61.5 million player, then turned in a total of three tackles and zero QB hits from the right. 

“I think it worked out pretty good,” Woodley said, oblivious as ever to his own shortcomings.

"Oblivious as ever to his own shortcomings." Ouch. Well, that's Kovacevic's comment, not ours. But the fact that comments like that are out there, well, they wouldn't be out there if Woodley didn't invite them.

Woodley had zero tackles in the loss at Oakland, and afterwards had some interesting comments, as noted in the following excerpt of a column by the Post-Gazette's Gene Collier (with the bold-faced emphasis below courtesy of yours truly):

"This is no step back for us; we're still movin' forward," said linebacker LaMarr Woodley, whose movements seemed almost designed to avoid tackles in a 21-18 loss to an almost equally dreadful football team. "We just had some mistakes out there and the Raiders capitalized on it. So, we're still a good football team, but we gave up some big plays. That's the only thing you can really look back on. You gave up some big plays. I wouldn't question us as a football team."

If the Steelers really want to retain Jason Worilds next year, that may require applying the franchise tag on him. And that would require jettisoning some other big contracts, one of which might be Woodley's.

There almost certainly will be others, and we wonder if Maurkice Pouncey's name is one of the ones being bandied about in Steeler offices on the South Side. Woodley and Pouncey would land elsewhere, of course, and possibly do well.  Yet the Steelers may need to free up cap space, and those would be two candidates that will bear scrutiny, among others (Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu, Levi Brown, Matt Spaeth, etc.)

Their respective 2014 cap hits? According to this report cited at Behind the Steel Curtain, Woodley's 2014 cap hit will be $13.59 million; Pouncey's will be $5.55 million.

They're not the only players with big cap numbers, but Woodley's will be the second-largest on the team (behind Ben Roethlisberger), and the Steelers may consider moving Maurkice Pouncey in a trade for badly needed draft picks, considering they've already traded their 2014 third-round choice to Cleveland and will be docked a later-round pick because of Mike Tomlin's sideline antics in Baltimore. Naturally, however, before moving Pouncey, the Steelers would need to feel comfortable they have a satisfactory replacement for him.

Anything's a possibility. One thing's for sure: They need improved play at linebacker.