Steelers position-by-position review: linebackers (pt. 2)
This is part 11 in our position-by-position review of the 2011 Pittsburgh Steelers. If you haven’t read the previous installments, please click below:
If you haven’t read Part 1 (offensive tackles), click here.
If you haven’t read Part 2 (guards), click here.
If you haven’t read Part 3 (centers), click here.
If you haven’t read Part 4 (tight ends), click here.
If you haven’t read Part 5 (wide receivers), click here.
If you haven’t read Part 6 (running backs), click here.
If you haven’t read Part 7 (quarterbacks), click here.
If you haven’t read Part 8 (nose tackles), click here.
If you haven’t read Part 9 (defensive ends), click here.
If you haven’t read Part 10 (linebackers), click here.
We began looking at the linebackers in part 10 of this series, and we’ll finish discussing them in this installment. We’ll start with
Jason Worilds
Jason Worilds was drafted out of Virginia Tech two years ago with the hope that he would become the heir apparent to James Harrison. Worilds was a pass rush specialist in college, and the Steelers hoped to see much the same from him in the pros. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened yet.
Don’t get me wrong, Worilds hasn’t played badly. He just hasn’t played great.
Injuries have also hampered Worilds’ development. He was injured for much of his rookie season, and then when his opportunity came up in 2011, he got hurt.
Worilds was in a perfect position to replace James Harrison when Harrison sat out for 4 games with an injury. But Worilds got hurt at the same time, and he sat out those same 4 games. So he didn’t get an opportunity to show what he could do as Harrison’s replacement.
Fortunately for Worilds (but unfortunately for the Steelers), LaMarr Woodley went down with an injury as soon as James Harrison came back from his. So Worilds got the opportunity to replace Woodley on the left side.
Worilds accumulated 38 tackles and 3 sacks while replacing Woodley. Those are acceptable numbers. The one area of concern was that Worilds didn’t show an ability to pressure the quarterback the way that Woodley and Harrison do. But of course, not many players in the NFL can pressure the quarterback the way Woodley and Harrison do.
My hope for Worilds is that he’ll continue to develop as a player, and that he’ll learn to take better care of his body so he won’t get hurt so often.
James Farrior
We all feel bad that the Steelers released long-time starter James Farrior. But the reality is that Farrior had been showing visible signs of slowing down for the past 3 seasons.
Farrior is 37 years old, and he would have turned 38 during the 2012 season. That’s ancient for an NFL player.
James Farrior
As much as I appreciate all of the work that Farrior has done for the Steelers, it was time for them to give a younger player a chance.
Even as an aging player, Farrior was a smart football player, and he called most of the defenses for the Steelers’ front 7. That’s going to be the most difficult thing for the Steelers to replace. But either Stevenson Sylvester or Larry Foote are capable of replacing what Farrior could do physically.
Larry Foote
Larry Foote has been with the Steelers since 2002, the same year that James Farrior joined the team. The two of them spent many years playing side-by-side. The difference is that Foote is only 31 years old.
The Steelers began platooning Foote for Farrior last season. That action was what first made fans question Farrior’s future with the team.
Foote played solidly, but not outstandingly in Farrior’s place (and in place of Lawrence Timmons when he was moved to the outside).
At this point in his career, I’d rather see Foote as a backup rather than as a starter. I think it’s time for the Steelers to give Stevenson Sylvester a chance to win the starting job.
Stevenson Sylvester
Stevenson Sylvester hasn’t gotten many opportunities to play at the linebacker position. That’s what happens when you play behind guys like Lawrence Timmons, James Farrior, and Larry Foote. However, now that James Farrior is no longer with the team, this should be Sylvester’s year to shine.
While it’s not clear who will replace Farrior in the starting lineup, Sylvester is now listed as the starter on the Steelers’ depth chart.
Although Sylvester hasn’t gotten many opportunities to play at linebacker, he has been an absolute demon on special teams. His aggressiveness there is a good sign. I remember when James Harrison and Brett Keisel proved themselves as wrecking machines on special teams.
Chris Carter
Chris Carter dressed for 8 games, and made a total of 3 tackles during his rookie season. That wasn’t enough to make a fair assessment. So for now, he gets an incomplete. Hopefully, we’ll get to see more of him next year so we can make an accurate assessment.
It’s possible that the Steelers could draft a linebacker. Alabama linebacker Dont’a Hightower is often mentioned as a possible Steelers draft pick. But even if they take him, it is highly unlikely that a rookie will be able to step into the Steelers’ starting lineup. Dick LeBeau’s defense is just too complex. I may be forgetting someone, but Casey Hampton is the last rookie that I can remember who became a starter on the Steelers’ defense. Troy Polamalu didn’t do it. Neither did Brett Keisel, or Ziggy Hood, or James Harrison, or LaMarr Woodley, or Ike Taylor, or Cameron Heyward. I’m not saying that it’s impossible. But it’s highly unlikely.
The other player to be a starter as a rookie was Kendrell Bell, right? Man he would have been a force if he had stayed healthy!
1Steve you are the man you are completely right he started all 16 games won defensive rookie of the year and it was injuries that killed his career he would have been a monster otherwise. His knees kept getting beat up.
2Yeah, I thought so! He had something like 9 sacks his rookie year and was an absolute animal… was a heck of a replacement for Kirkland! And yeah, it was too bad his knees got jacked up, because their was a significant difference in the game ability of Foote who took over for him… definitely a solid back-up… but not more than that.
3Yeah, Bell was a beast. Shame about those injuries. I’d like to see Sylvester compete to start. I think the Steelers will spend a high draft pick on the position as well.
4Steve,
You’re absolutely right. Kendrell Bell and Casey Hampton both started as rookies during the same year. However, neither of them started as rookies for Dick LeBeau. LeBeau was still head coach for the Bengals when Casey and Kendrell started as rookies. Since Dick LeBeau returned to the Steelers in 2004, NO ROOKIE has ever become a starter in his defense.
So even if the Steelers draft Dont’a Hightower, he probably ain’t gonna start in 2012.
5Gotcha on that! Yeah, I hope we draft Hightower, but I agree, the odds of him starting this year are slim to none!
6With his injury history in college, I can’t believe Worilds was drafted…. one of Colbert’s worst picks ever.
7Trevor,
I think you’re exaggerating a bit. Worilds looks to be a pretty decent draft pick. He’s not a Pro Bowl caliber player yet, but he dressed for 14 games as a rookie, and he started 7 games as a sophomore. He’s accumulated 5 QB sacks during that time. That’s not bad. In fact, that’s more sacks than James Harrison accumulated in his first 4 seasons with the Steelers. So I guess you would have cut him.
Worilds isn’t even Colberts worst 2nd round pick (that would be Alonzo Jackson). Guys like Limas Sweed, Ricardo Colclough, and Anthony Smith also come to mind.
And if we look at other rounds, there were guys like Bruce Davis, Tee Martin, Nathaniel Adibi, Fred Gibson, Dallas Baker, and Omar Jacobs.
So I have to disagree with you. Jason Worilds was not one of Colbert’s worst picks ever. In fact, he’s not even close.
8Steve,
Yeah, you did get me on that one (although I beat you on a technicality, since LeBeau didn’t start Kendrell Bell).
But you were right. Bell did start the same year as Casey Hampton. I don’t know how I forgot about him. He was one of the most amazing rookies the Steelers have ever seen. I can only imagine what his career would have looked like if he hadn’t suffered injuries. He would have likely been one of the Steelers’ all-time great linebackers.
9Hah… I wasn’t saying that I had “got you” on that one, I meant that to mean, “Roger on the fact that he didn’t start for Lebeau and on the fact that Hightower probably won’t either” As for how you forgot about him… good question! And I am sure he would have been one of the best in Steelers history, if not the league history. Would have been fun to see him and Harrison play together on the same field!
10LB’s are the key to our Defense in many ways. Therefore, Worilds needs to demonstrate that he was worth such a high pick. I remember thinking he was he was a reach at the time. Doesn’t matter now, he has to step up and push the guys in front of him. It’s too bad, they may have even considered him for ILB had he played better. That leads to Sylvester – not sure what we have there. He looks the part-but is still an unknown quantity. If we felt better about him and/or Worilds, Hightower might not be our ‘most mocked pick.’ Like you said if Foote is starting that means that are young guys haven’t developed enough (players’ fault or coaches??) They really liked Carter as a draft pick last year. If he develops as a second year player should (Tomlin believes that Yr 2 should show a huge step fwd.) he should be a monster on ST in 2012.
11As it looks, I expect the Steelers to draft both an ILB and an OLB this year because we have too many question marks in these critical roles for LeBeau’s Defense.
I dont want to go too deep on this because you’ve mentioned doing a draft segment. But I’m not too high on the Steelers drafting Hightower. Guys who are 20 years old with weight issues and knee concerns worry me.
12Oh, I understand now, Steve. Sorry about that. I thought you were saying something else.
13John#21,
I agree. The Steelers have some real question marks on their backup linebackers. James Harrison can’t keep playing forever, and Worilds hasn’t shown that he’s ready to be a star. And Carter basically hasn’t shown us anything. So the backups at outside LB could use an upgrade.
I feel much better about Stevenson Sylvester, but the truth is that he has mostly shown what he can do on special teams. It’s anybody’s guess how he’ll do as a starter. And if Foote is the starter, then we have REAL problems.
14J.R.,
Yes, I am going to be talking about potential picks next. So I won’t go into too much here, but……
I agree. I like what Dont’a Hightower did in college. And he has great size and strength. But major knee injuries can be a problem. He looks like he’s fully recovered, but you just never know with knees.
Frankly, if he hadn’t hurt his knees, I’d probably like him more than I like Luke Kuechly. Kuechly won’t be available when the Steelers’ pick comes around, so I don’t think the Steelers could get him anyway. He was a stat machine in college, but I’m not sold on his athleticism.
Frankly, I wish the hard-hitting Vontaze Burfict wasn’t a problem child. His personal issues probably take him out of consideration for the Steelers. But that guy hits HARD.
15Burfict had probably the worst possible senior year that he could have had. A poor senior season, beating up a teammate, blaming his problems on coaches, having a poor combine, and having a poor pro day have killed his stock.
16