Ever since the Pittsburgh Steelers lost LB Ryan Shazier to a spine injury that ended up cutting short his NFL career, they have been constantly searching for his replacement.
Replacing a player of Shazier’s caliber has been no easy task for the Black and Gold due to his immense athleticism and ability to run sideline-to-sideline in pursuit of the football, blitz and take down opposing quarterbacks, and cover opposing RBs, TEs, and even slot WRs on occasion, having a feel for working in space and making plays on the football in the air.
Pittsburgh tried to go cheap at the position to start, signing the likes of Jon Bostic and Mark Barron to try and replicate what Shazier brought to the defense.