As the Pittsburgh Steelers look to rebound after another 8-8 season, the key will lie in whether or not their defense makes strides forward. Even though they finished a respectable 13th in total defense, they were unable to come up with enough pressure on the quarterback, thus not creating enough turnovers.
Their formula to success is simple, put enough pressure on the quarterback and force him to make a mistake, and then capitalize on said error. For years the outside linebacker position has been the place that has brought that pressure, and throughout the years they have had some great pass rushing linebackers that have helped lead their defense to success.
Last year was a transition year however, seeing only 13-total sacks from the two main starting outside linebackers, and a single sack from their top reserve. Jarvis Jones began the season as the starter, but was pushed aside by Jason Worilds, who led the team in sacks with eight.
Gone now is LaMarr Woodley who was cut after seven seasons, and 57-sacks. So now it falls upon Jones and Worilds, two players who the Steelers invested a first and second round selection on, respectively, and if you look at the history of the Steelers defense – it pays into their favor.
The Steelers have a long track record of finding players to fit specifically into their scheme, players like Clark Haggans had a string of success with Pittsburgh due purely on him fitting the ‘mold’ perfectly. He left via free agency to the Arizona Cardinals and was unable to find the continued success that he had while with Pittsburgh.
Other obvious names to thrive at the OLB position the last ten years, James Harrison, Joey Porter, and Jason Gildon. Of those players, only Jones started multiple games as a true rookie and Gildon was the only other player to make a start.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that Jones is ahead of the rest, but it could give us a nice gauge on the next stat. Of the group mentioned above, none of them recorded less than 6-sacks in their first full season as a starter. Woodley led the way with 11.5 his first as a full time starter and the average amount of sacks was 8.5.
Getting an opportunity to work with one of the most successful linebackers in Dick LeBeau’s scheme, Porter and his 60-sacks as a Steeler, Jones has the chance to put his name right among that group in his first full season as a starter.
On the opposite side, if we go by history as well, Worilds may be in line for an even bigger year. The same group of players we looked at in their first season saw their average increase from 8.5 to 10.5 sacks. Harrison and Woodley led the way with 16 and 13 respectively, and Porter and Haggans each collected 9-sacks.
If they both increase their sack totals to those numbers that would give them 19-among each other, five more than last year’s total among their top-3 OLB. And when you look over the last 11-years of Steelers’ defense, their top-5 sack combinations have led them to being in the top-5 defensively each time.
There isn’t a direct correlation, as their third lowest sack total (again, coming from their outside rushers) was in 2012, and they still had the top ranked defense, but what the numbers did show – more sacks, a safer bet on having a better defense.
So plain-and-simple, get to the quarterback and success will follow. Can they do it? The Steelers have given them every resource (Porter as a teacher will pay dividends), on top of one of them playing for a potential big contract, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if they jump right back to the top of the defensive rankings.
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