It’s been a wierd week for the Pittsburgh Steelers outdoors linebackers. First, the Steelers re-signed former Pittsburgh outdoors linebacker Markus Golden. This gave the impression to be the lacking piece of the puzzle for depth as an edge rusher.
Then simply days later, Golden retires. What? So now, relatively than having all the pieces the Steelers want at outdoors linebacker, they’re again to sq. one, proper? Perhaps not.
The crew’s first preseason sport was Friday night time and whereas the Steelers misplaced to the Houston Texans, two of the most effective gamers on the sector for Pittsburgh have been outdoors linebackers.
No, not these outdoors linebackers. It wasn’t T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith that stole the present. It was Jeremiah Moon and DeMarvin Leal. Every man had a sack towards the Texans and performed very effectively.
The Steelers claimed Moon off waivers again in January. He spend his rookie season on and off of the Baltimore Ravens energetic roster. However the former Florida edge had a protracted six-year profession prolonged by harm and COVID.
As for Leal, he’s trimmed down and it was nice to see him truly taking some reps at outdoors linebacker along with being defensive finish. Leal struggled in 2023 however it’s clear he’s taken it as a wakeup name.
Oh and we will’t neglect final season’s backup Nick Herbig who solely performed 11 snaps on Friday night time.
As we glance to replace our roster projection, It’s laborious to maintain Moon off the 53-man roster due to his play final week and Leal cemented his spot on the depth chart. Do the Steelers nonetheless need assistance at outdoors linebacker? Perhaps not.