Following the 2022 season, Pittsburgh Steelers GM Omar Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl identified rather quickly that the franchise needed to reshape itself at the inside linebacker position in Pittsburgh’s 3-4 defense.
For far too many years following the tragic Ryan Shazier injury, the Steelers were getting subpar play from the position. Pittsburgh missed on the Devin Bush selection in the 2019 NFL Draft, in large part due to injury. The experiments with Joe Schobert and Myles Jack weren’t all that successful despite large tackle numbers.
Names like Avery Williamson, Jon Bostic, Sean Spence and more didn’t click either.