At this same time last year, Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebacker Ryan Shazier was getting ready to report to his first training camp after being selected by the team in the first round of the draft. At that time, he was on schedule to be the starter alongside Lawrence Timmons and several analysts believed he might even be a legitimate candidate to win the annual Rookie of the Year award.
Early-season injuries, however, resulted in the Ohio State product only playing in nine regular-season games of which he started just five and his rookie campaign ended with him being a role player on defense and special teams on his way to registering just 36 total regular-season tackles.