It’s fairly unusual to spend time this early in Steelers’ Training Camp talking about reserve linebackers but Vince Williams and Sean Spence are worthy of it. Both guys had strong seasons in 2014 and now through less than a week of camp appear ready to challenge for playing time.
There was a time when most Steelers’ fans hoped Sean Spence would be able to walk again and lead a normal life after his horrible injury his rookie season. Now, Spence is pushing extremely hard to prove he should be on the field rather than last year’s first-round draft pick Ryan Shazier.
Our eyes on the practice field of St. Vincent’s College in Latrobe are telling us that Spence has never looked more athletic than he does right now and while Shazier’s overall speed is better, has the Sean Spence that was drafted in the third round finally arrived after his injury?
A fast, tackling machine, Spence was chosen to be the guy who could anchor the middle of the Steelers’ specialty packages we are hearing more about this week. When the injury happened, that made Shazier’s drafting necessary. With the Cover-2 becoming more prominent in the defense, a fast middle linebacker is necessary and now the Steelers have two of them.
As for Williams, he was thrown into the fire as a rookie when Larry Foote went down. He struggled but that wasn’t surprising for a rookie in Dick LeBeau’s defense. Last season, he showed glimpses of much better play and now through camp has been one of the best players on the field.
While there’s no way he will supplant Lawrence Timmons as the ‘buck’ linebacker in the 3-4 for the Steelers, with Keith Butler and Mike Tomlin clearly moving towards more diverse defensive fronts, Williams could see the time on the field he deserves.
What can’t be dismissed here is something I’ve been told many times and that’s the possibility that Spence could be moved via trade. The longer he stays healthy the more his value goes up. Nothing for sure here, but it’s just an idea.
Regardless, both Williams and Spence are proving they deserve more time than any of us may have thought they did heading into the season.
