PITTSBURGH — The chase goes on. The chase never ends.
The Steelers are still looking to replace Ryan Shazier, still looking for their next star — their next leader — in the middle of their defense.
You probably don't need me to tell you how much Mike Tomlin values the position, but I'll provide proof just in case: Tomlin has used his three highest picks, including his first pick as Steelers coach, on inside linebackers.
With a presumed final say in all 16 of his drafts, Tomlin has chosen just three times in the top 15. He chose Lawrence Timmons, Shazier and Devin Bush.
You probably don't need me to tell you how much this franchise relies on the position, either. It had two dynamic player/leaders in the middle for all six Super Bowl wins — Jack Lambert and James Farrior (and please never sell Farrior short; the man finished his NFL career with 1,440 tackles, 98 tackles for loss, 35.5 sacks, 18 forced fumbles, 12 fumble recoveries, 11 interceptions and very nearly a defensive player of the year award, finishing second to Ed Reed by four votes in 2004).
I mention all of this because the Baltimore Ravens — who also prize the position in question — just acquired 25-year-old star inside linebacker Roquan Smith from the Chicago Bears for second- and fifth-round picks and reserve linebacker A.J. Klein. Smith is paired with Patrick Queen, who was inconsistent over his first two years but has improved this season.
It had been known since camp that Smith wanted out of Chicago. If Steelers general manager Omar Khan was not in hot pursuit, he wasn't doing his job. This was a very reasonable price for Smith, a second-team All-Pro the past two years.
We now know the Bears had interest in Chase Claypool (he plays for them, right?). Couldn't he have been packaged with picks to acquire Smith?
Yes, Smith's contract expires after the season. He will need to be signed to a mega deal. But as we have mentioned many times in this space, that's the beauty of not having a cap-eating quarterback — you can afford to splurge in other areas.
Instead, the Steelers will be forced to look for their next great inside linebacker in the draft, along with offensive linemen, defensive linemen, a cornerback and maybe a strong safety. The list goes on. And depending on how Kenny Pickett turns out, they might yet need to chase the quarterback position again within a few years.
It's not that Bush and Myles Jack have been terrible — Jack racks up tackles, for sure — but let's be honest here: There's not a lot of splash when they are on the field. The two have combined for zero forced fumbles, zero fumble recoveries, zero interceptions and zero sacks.
Smith, on the other hand, was the only player in the NFL with multiple sacks and interceptions going into his debut with the Ravens on Monday night (in which he immediately made an impact).
Nobody on the team is close to Jack's 72 total tackles or 43 solo stops. But he's 27 with mileage (nearing 100 career games) and only one year left on his contract. He is not the future.
Neither is Bush, who assuredly was supposed to be. The Steelers made a move unprecedented in franchise history, advancing 10 spots into the top 10 via trade, to take Bush in 2019. A huge part of the attraction was his "intangibles," to borrow Tomlin's word at the time. He wasn't just going to be a sideline-to-sideline demon, he was going to be a leader, a "quarterback" on defense.
"His game is predicated on what is needed to play the position in modern day NFL football," said then-GM Kevin Colbert. "He can not only play the run, but he has exceptional cover abilities, and he also can rush the passer."
"His leadership skills are unquestioned," Tomlin said. "We interviewed a lot of Michigan players through the draft process, and it was unanimous in terms of who their unquestioned leader was, and that was attractive to us, as well."
Three years and one major knee injury later, the Steelers told the world everything it needed to know about how they feel about Bush when they did not pick up his fifth-year option. That doesn't necessarily mean he's finished here after this season — Tomlin continues to praise him — but whether it's because of the injury or a simple misevaluation, Bush is absolutely not the man in the middle moving forward.
Smith could have been, but is now lost to a division rival. And the Ravens, incidentally, appear to be light years ahead of the Steelers in terms of overall talent level.
So it's back to the draft. Back to evaluating inside linebackers.
The chase goes on.
