News came out recently that the Pittsburgh Steelers extended the contract of Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin. While Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin is very likely the defensive mind if you will, on gameday with a very high level of influence, it’s still up to Austin to right the ship following a disappointing season.
The Steelers entire defensive staff got more than admirable efforts out of players like Myles Jack, and Eric Rowe, towards the end of the 2023 season. However, don’t forget that there are still some serious questions on that side of the football that need to be addressed heading into 2024.
Let’s take a look at how the Steelers might approach the defense this offseason.
Build around Joey Porter Jr. at cornerback
The team finally found their shut-down Cornerback in Joey Porter Jr. However, it’s just two very green guys behind him Corey Trice as well as Darius Rush. Patrick Peterson could be forced to take a salary reduction, as he’s probably a better fit in a heavily reduced role. The rest of the room are all unrestricted free agents
Hopefully, the Steelers try and aim a bit higher talent-wise over the 2023 cornerback depth they had. Even if they add a slightly above-mid-tier veteran and as well as they are expected to address the position in the draft. The secondary has to get faster so that if coverage gets busted or someone gets beat off the line, they have to have enough speed to catch up. Too many Buffalo Bills receivers were running wide-open against the Steelers secondary in the wild card game, and there were plenty of other games during the season with guys just getting run away from. Speed would certainly help.
Depth at inside linebacker
The saga of the inside linebacker position for the Steelers is like an episode of The Twilight Zone. Every single time you think they have made inroads at the position, bam! Bad news.
With the 2023 free agent signing Cole Holcomb, it looked like maybe, finally, the team had an answer. Unfortunately, he suffered a major knee injury that ended his first season of which the details were never actually released. Will he be ready for the off-season program? What about at training camp? Will he have to begin the season on the PUP list? There’s no concrete answer, at least publicly, regarding those questions yet. Will he have immediate confidence in that knee? Will he have to play in a limited package for a while?
Also worth noting is Kwon Alexander, who suffered a season-ending Achilles rupture, which wasn’t his first. Alexander wasn’t necessarily a long-term option, but he did give them some expanded defensive package capabilities. He’s a free agent in 2024, but can they count on an older player with multiple Achilles injuries under his belt? The answer is a very quick “no.”
The team also seems to have next to zero confidence in 2022 seventh-round pick Mark Robinson; it was essentially anyone but him after Holcomb and Alexander went down. The Steelers may lean towards free-agent options, as there are only so many holes you can fill via the draft.
Luckily, Elandon Roberts will be back to play out the final year of his two-year deal with the Steelers, though set to turn 30 before the season begins, but there’s still a solid chance that their opening-day starters at the position may not currently be on their roster.
