Fixing the inside linebacker

Walker is compiling tackles because opposing offenses are attacking him. They are doing this because he isn't good. His poor play was a huge part of the losses to the Cardinals and Patriots. He is often out of position in passing situation and he has missed some key tackles, too.

 

I think Alexander will be gone unless he signs very cheap. Holcomb is already under contract for next season. I could see them drafting an inside linebacker to add a long-term option, but if the medical reports are good, I could see them running it back with Holcomb, Alexander, and Roberts.

 

Folks, Herbig is a playmaker, He makes plays when given a chance,
we need more of him on the field.

 

so have many others scribe. he is a lot newer to this defense so i'm not going to jump the gun on him yet. he has done some good things too. early in the year they attacked roberts too. he has evolved with the defense. jack knows this defense. we have had a lot of moving parts with the injuries which didn't help walker learn the defense and the players around him. you know that it takes time for players to learn to react more than think. the more time in the system the better players play. i'm not saying we should keep him to start next year over alexander or holcomb but he has worth as depth and a sub for us if they choose that direction.

 

Maybe he would get better given time, but so far, he has been a liability. I'm not sure if you are seeing just how much teams are attacking him because they see what a weak link he is for that defense.

 

walker will tackle, it is covering people out of backfield/ TE

 

ILB has been a key to the Steelers defense ever since they switched to the 3-4, even when Lambert was still playing. The edges get all the glory, but guys like Little, Foote, Farrior, Timmons, Shazier, etc., have been staples in the defense. That is why they traded up for Bush. Many of the draftniks do not know what they are talking about, but I remember the draft "experts" did not like Bush, and the discussion on this board, posters on here warned us to stay away from Bush.

The Steelers need to get back to finding ILBers that are difference makers. Look at the Ravens, they draft Queen in round 1 and trade for Smith a former top ten pick, then draft Simpson, who may replace Queen, because they may not be able to pay both Queen and Smith.

My hope is that Khan and Weidl continue to improve the roster through the draft, and we have less of the Bush and Claypool type picks that set the organization back.

 

they have been using our lbers far more like DB's than LB'ers. i'm not sure if it was because of safety injuries but during that stretch he was having to cover far more downfield than he should have. i believe the scheme has players extending far too much but again as i said the ijuries have kind of dictated that. the whole defense during that stretch just was out of sync. not just him.

 

He was in man coverage on tight ends some of the time, but most of that was just an inside linebacker's role in a zone. He just sucks at it.

 

ILB would have been fine w/o the injuries, IMO. Holcomb and Kwon was a nice tandem. Drafting does not necessarily fix it, as we have seen, with the great BUST, Devin Bush. a combo of draft + FA is the solution, of course, and DEPTH. Jack has been very solid, much to my surprise.

 

Walker is so slow, he got that interception against New England and couldn't get the pick six, he can't cover anybody,

 

he has 4 picks the last 3 years and 13 passes defended in 18 games.

here in 7 games he has 2 passes defended. 1 interception. 1 sack. 31 tackles.

kwon has 9 games. 1 pass defended. 1 interception. 41 tackles. 1 sack.

holcomb has 8 games. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 54 tackles. 0 sacks.

roberts has 15 games. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 100 tackles. 2.5 sacks.

those stats tend to disagree with you. he's pretty much right on par with our other LB'ers. just so ya know.

 

Draft best center and ILB with first two picks. This should be the priority.

 

They should try to sign Alexander and Holcomb again.

OLB is different than ILB. Herbig could rotate though I don't see him as a permanent change

 

Too many old slow guys on defense in general right now. I know they kind of have a patchwork defense because of all the injuries, but they seriously need to address the lack of speed on defense in the off-season if they ever want to be serious contenders again

 

Why not?

 

He is too good an edge rusher to stay inside.

 

We need that depth. We rarely have 3 healthy LB's at anyone time. Watt is not an ILB and would struggle...and probably end up getting injured. Highsmith doesn't have the skills to shed blockers and not move backwards. Not sure what the draft class looks like but I'd like to see a first round pick on an ILB or Safety.

 

i'd have to go with center and corner, then DL.

 

Nah. he sucks, they shouldn't bring him back next season.

 

I’m blaming Watt’s injury on you blabber mouth

 

We used to be the standard for Linebackers, we need to be that again. We went small and quick with Shazier and we may need to find big and fast and we cannot miss. Maybe go the Farrior route and pick up one in free agency. Farrior signing is probably one of the best free agent signings we ever made along with Bettis.

 

Agree on LBers. Farrior may be the best free agent signing. Bettis was a trade with the St. Louis Rams.

 

Took the words right out of my mouth.

 

Yes true was kind of combining them.