The Pittsburgh Steelers improved to 5-0 with their 38-7 thumping of the Cleveland Browns. Unfortunately, during the win, Pittsburgh lost Devin Bush for the season to an ACL tear. Replacing Bush, their standout second-year linebacker who played every snap this season until suffering his injury will be no easy task. There will likely be a rotation of players who will split up the duties. One of those players could be third-year linebacker Marcus Allen. After making the switch to linebacker in the offseason, Allen could be thrust into that role a little earlier than expected.
Marcus Allen Could See More Playing Time
Allen missed Pittsburgh’s Week 5 game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a foot injury. He returned to the lineup on Sunday against Cleveland and played his usual special teams snaps. Through five games, Marcus Allen is yet to play a snap on defense in 2020. That’s no huge surprise, as he didn’t play any defensive snaps in 2019 either. This past off-season, many fans and analysts thought there was a chance that Allen could be cut. The fifth-round pick out of Penn State in 2018 didn’t look like he had much of a role on the team aside from some special teams snaps.
During training camp this year, the Steelers made a switch and rotated Allen it at linebacker. Thinking about it, the move was a great idea from Mike Tomlin and Keith Butler. Even as a safety, Allen always did his best work close to the line of scrimmage. He’s not fast enough to play in deep coverage and be expected to cover safeties downfield. Allen is a hard hitter who will help in the running game and is athletic enough to hang with some running backs and tight ends in coverage. Now with Bush gone, there will be a handful of players competing to take his snaps, and Allen is one of them.
The Situation at Linebacker
Robert Spillane came into the game to replace Bush and played quite well. Spillane and Allen have comparable skill sets, though they have their differences, too. Against the run, Spillane is the stereotypical Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker. He gets downhill fast and lays the lumber on opposing ball carriers. That’s the strength of Allen’s game, too, but Spillane does it better. The difference between the two is their coverage abilities. Allen might not be great in coverage, but he is light years ahead of Spillane in that regard. It’s not ideal, but you can leave with having Marcus Allen on the field against the pass. With Spillane, you want him on the sidelines when it’s time for the other team to throw the ball.
Ulysees Gilbert III is another option to pick up some of Bush’s snaps. With Bush out for the season, Gilbert is now probably the Steelers’ best coverage linebacker on the team. At the very least, he’s their best athlete at the position. But it’s also worth noting that Gilbert has only been active for one game this year. The only good work we have seen from him in coverage came in last year’s preseason. Gilbert has the potential in coverage, but Pittsburgh knows more than us outsiders know. And if he has only had a helmet for one game out of five, there’s probably a reason for it.
Against the run, expect the Steelers to stick with Vince Williams and Spillane as their linebackers. On passing downs, Spillane will be off the field, and ideally, Williams will, too. This is where Marcus Allen and Ulysees Gilbert come into play. Gilbert could play alongside Williams in passing situations, while Marcus Allen could excel in a dime backer type of role. He’s no Devin Bush roaming the middle of the field, but Allen will suffice. Though he’s only serviceable at best against the pass, that’s more than you can say about the remaining Steelers linebackers.
