A big reason to why the Pittsburgh Steelers made the playoffs this past season was because of the defense. Specifically the linebackers were the reason for plenty of the success. Luckily for the Steelers, only two of their linebackers are on the free agency list.
Sean Spence and Terence Garvin are the free agents. Both are inside linebackers, but Spence has the higher cap space hit with a total of $816,345. Spence and Garvin are both to be 25 years old by the start of the 2016 campaign. Garvin had nine tackles, with eight of them being solo, while Spence had 37 tackles, with 29 of them being solo. Spence also had a sack this past season.
However, both linebackers didn’t come close to matching the number one statistical defensive player, Lawrence Timmons. The inside linebacker had 119 tackles, with 77 of them being solo tackles. Timmons also had five sacks on the year and forced a fumble. On top of all of that, Timmons also had one interception.
Another player that had a breakthrough year for the Steelers was Timmons’ fellow inside linebacker Ryan Shazier. Shazier had 87 tackles, with 55 being solo. Shazier had 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. Just like Timmons’, Shazier also had an interception. Shazier spent the whole year being a consistent player for the Steelers, which led to their playoff run.
In addition to the four players, the Steelers also have Arthur Moats, Vince Williams, L.J. Fort, Jarvis Jones, James Harrison, and rookies Bud Dupree and Anthony Chickillo. Out of those linebackers, Harrison is the oldest, but still has another year left on his contract, at 37 years old.
The Steelers have a solid linebacker corps, and the statistics prove it. Shazier, as well as Jones and Dupree are only getting better with experience. However, that doesn’t mean the Steelers shouldn’t try to draft another linebacker. Even though the Steelers should keep their focus on the secondary, the team could have a shot at drafting Reggie Ragland (Sr.) from Alabama, Kentrell Brothers (R. Sr.) from Missouri, Dominique Alexander (Jr.) from Oklahoma, Darron Lee (R. So.) from Ohio State, Jaylon Smith (Jr.) from Notre Dame, or Lenoard Floyd (R. Jr.) from Georgia.
