As Pittsburgh Steelers rookie inside linebacker Matthew Thomas appears set to make his defensive debut tomorrow against the Atlanta Falcons, let’s remind ourselves that at this point of his career his primary task is to contribute on special teams.
To date, he has had some level of participation on three of the four primary special teams units, those being kickoff coverage and returns, and punt coverage as well. For the latter, he has even been used as a gunner, a role that he may continue tomorrow with Darrius Heyward-Bey likely not playing.