I’ll say this for Pittsburgh Steelers’ General Manager Omar Khan; when he knows the team needs something he has no issue in going out and addressing it. With just three days of practice under their belts, the Steelers clearly decided their inside linebacking situation was not up to their standards. Therefore they’ve signed veteran linebacker Kwon Alexander.
A 2015 fourth selection of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Alexander and the Steelers have been flirting with one another for several months. When Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts came aboard during the offseason it was assumed the Steelers were done with the position, but after those three days of practice Mike Tomlin knew they needed more help.
Alexander is fast and very athletic and will immediately become the Steelers’ best cover linebacker. How good he’ll be in that capacity will be discovered in the coming days and weeks. We know he’s an aggressive player with tremendous Special Teams ability to boot. Whether he can play the run consistently enough is worth asking. Sadly, Alexander becomes the latest member of the merry-go-round since the retirement of Ryan Shazier.
Since Ryan Shazier's career-ending injury, 28+yr-old vets the Steelers acquired to start at ILB:
'17: Sean Spence
'18: Jon Bostic
'19: Mark Barron
'20: Avery Williamson
'21:Joe Schobert
'22: Myles Jack
'23: Elandon Roberts/Kwon AlexanderNone thus far have lasted more than 1 yr
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) July 30, 2023
During his eight-year career, Alexander has made one Pro Bowl which was in 2017. His numbers in 2016 were actually better as he collected 145 tackles including 12 tackles for loss. Last season with the New York Jets he picked up 69 tackles over 17 games. He has eight career interceptions and 12.5 career sacks. Coming out of LSU, he was widely thought to be a guy limited to an outside backer spot in a 4-3 system. He made a home for himself at middle linebacker however before moving back to the outside in recent seasons.
I have to assume at this point that Teryl Austin’s approach will be based strictly on situations. Is Austin more likely to use Holcomb and Roberts on early downs before moving to Alexander in passing situations? Will Alexander be given opportunities earlier than we think? These are clearly questions and answers that will be addressed.
If you’ve heard Khan and players like Kenny Pickett among others talk this week then you know that they’ve spoken heavily about the goal being to win the Super Bowl. That’s not something we’ve heard in recent seasons and bringing in Alexander so quickly seems to be on par with making that goal a reality.
