With T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, the Steelers boast perhaps the best outside linebacker tandem in football. Behind those two, however, the picture is less rosy, as Cassius Marsh and Quincy Roche reside as the top backups.
Earlier this year, defensive coordinator Keith Butler made it sound as if Pittsburgh would make an addition to that group, as Mark Kaboly of The Athletic observes. Now, however, the team appears to be taking more of a wait-and-see approach.
“We will see as we go along in training camp and go through the preseason,” Butler said last week. “We are looking for a third guy [behind Watt and Highsmith] right now who is going to step up. … We will see how it goes as we go along. Hopefully, we can stay healthy at that position.”
The Steelers inside linebacking corps was hit hard by injury in 2020, and head coach Mike Tomlin conceded that he is worried about attrition. However, like Butler, he seems content with how his OLB depth chart looks at the moment.
“I am comfortable with who we have working there right now,” Tomlin said. “We are going to coach those guys up and hope that attrition doesn’t set in.”
Marsh, a fourth-round pick of the Seahawks in 2014, has bounced around the league quite a bit. In addition to the ‘Hawks, he has suited up for the Patriots, 49ers, Cardinals, Colts, Jaguars, and Steelers. He joined Pittsburgh last December and ultimately played in one game before landing on the COVID-19 list. He has been a useful rotational piece at times, and his most consistent action came back in 2018, when he was on the field for over half of San Francisco’s defensive snaps and posted 5.5 sacks. He is also capable of lining up as a defensive end.
Kaboly says Marsh is the most likely player currently on the roster to become the “swing” OLB that the Steelers like to deploy when one of the starters needs a breather. Roche, a sixth-round rookie, is raw and will need a fair amount of work before Pittsburgh can count on him to be a reliable contributor.
If neither Marsh nor Roche performs well in training camp and the preseason, the Steelers could turn back to the free agent market. Earlier tonight, we took a look at the top pass rushers who remain unsigned, and other players could of course become available via cut or trade.
I mean TJ is a beast, and I believe Highsmith has potential, but best tandem in football feels a little bullish…
Agreed, I had to re-read that to make sure I wasn’t mistaken. Regardless with Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt the pass rush will still be great. Getting a competent third cornerback should be much higher on the list of priorities than OLB depth though. Roche is raw but seems like he can be an adequate situational pass rusher until he develops the ability/knowledge to stay and cover the gaps he’s responsible for and be able to shed blockers well enough to be efficient against running plays. Marsh doesn’t have nearly as much upside but is fine as a rotational depth piece. Gotta hope Watt and Highsmith, especially Watt, stays healthy or things can go south pretty quick.
and marsh does a sweet spin kick too
I love Tomlin as much as the next person, but here lately he’s been a little to “relaxed” with this roster… Banner… Chucks… Samuels, Marsh, Pierre, Spilly to a degree, he just thinks everything will work out and be perfect, when in reality just because you want a player to be good, doesn’t mean they are. In this case he believes our back ups are good enough, his DC publicly stated he doesn’t believe they are… mixed options there and I as fan agree with Butler. They need OLB/ILB/CB/ol depth something fierce… ilb maybe not as bad,
They don’t really have any cap space. That’s why Dupree is gone and Ben is playing for the minimum. The Steelers are seemingly looking at a lot of options, but really need to pick and choose where the money will go-beyond this year, as well.
Beyond this year is a clear and easy choice. TJ Watt and Minkah gonna get get paid
Ben only took a $5 million dollar pay cut… not playing for the minimum… they have between 5-8 million depending on who you look at. So that’s a little bit of space to do something, not to mention if any restructuring or releases take places…( or what goes on with Dcastro) and Dupree got a contract that many teams couldn’t afford, but Steelers definitely could not have, but with that said this coming year they lead the league jn cap space with al most $70-80 million… so ahead and chalk up $50-60 mill to resign Watt,Fitz, JuJu …. and they still have money after those extensions not counting any reworks/relases/penalties so we’ll have money next year, they just need to look at solid depth THIS year if they’re trying to one last time it with Ben.
Why would they be in a hurry. They will be 6-10 regardless of who they add. Not winning anytime soon with that roster.
Doubt it happens cuz the Steelers haven’t had a losing record in about 12-15 years but a 6-10 record might be a blessing so they can actually draft Ben’s replacement next year. Never gonna get a top young QB drafting in the mid 20s every year
They didn’t even have a losing record with Duck Hodges and Mason Rudolph starting not have they ever in Tomlin tenure… so why is this year different…?! Not to mention still they won 11 games last year… plus they have a better RB, there best ILB back, there is positives, people acting like because Ben is in his upper 30s he’s done…. they’re is veterans older than him still going strong and harder than some younger.. age is a number, it’s all about if Ben trained himself right and got
Prepared and I’m shape as necessary to be that good. T
And randy land is gone. That’s the biggest thing to me. Ben drawing plays in the dirt was the best offense last year.
Betcha a dollar they don’t go 6-10 in a 17 game season…
Best tandem is Fred Warner and whoever is next to him
Fred Warner is not an OLB but A for effort.
Give Tegray Scales a shot and he’ll step up. Guy was a tackle machine at IU and he was one of the leaders in tackles on the Dallas Renegades of the XFL before the season stopped due to Covid.
I like Scales but he is more of an ILB with pass rushing prowess than an OLB. I’d like to see him step up and take the backup MACK spot.
Agreed with Goodkat. I too am a Scales gfan, but he’s more of an inside guy. He’s a bit small to be a volume pass rusher, but has great athleticism.
Marsh is one of my favorite players because he plays Magic: the Gathering like I do. It’d be cool to see him live, as I’m only 90 mintues away from Heinz Field.