Our ILB's now a team strength?

[Joel Buchsbaum]

Maybe they are a team strength. Both the depth and the starters. It's situational football for ALL defensive players these days. Different roles on and 1st and ten, 2nd and short-medium-long, and different roles on 3rd and short-medium-long!

We got a group of guys who can tackle, defend the run, blitz, hit hard enough to force fumbles and have the speed and quickness to cover people. And we have depth. We don't have a unicorn like Brian Urlacher who had the speed, height, size, and smarts to cover tight ends, but few teams have / had this.

Thoughts?

https://steelersdepot.com/2023/08/the-steelers-inside-linebacker-battle-is-heating-up/

[WindyCitySteel]

I have to admit the reports are good and I'm hopeful they're better than the last few years, but we're not talking about Fred Warner and Bobby Wagner. If they're solid, that's fine, the DL should be dominant.

If Joey can play like Sauce Gardner as a rookie and/or Pat Pete has another strong year, the D should be top 5.

[NorthCoast]

For years fans were blaming the DL for the weakness at LB. I wasn't on board with that view. The DL is as good as it has ever been but now they might have some playmakers at LB.