PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The on-field side to Stephon Tuitt retiring, what are the Steelers internal options to fill his spot?
There was the experience last year as a guide as it would appear they would give the majority of snaps to veteran Chris Wormley. If you don’t believe that, he does.
“I think I’m poised to fill that role,” Wormley said. “I’m excited for Tyson to come back healthy. I’m excited for some of the young guys to play meaningful snaps this season. As a unit I think we are excited and it starts with Cam (Heyward).”
The defensive captain saying they will count on Tyson Alualu returning, the growth of second-year defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk and others in the group. Heyward will also put more on himself.
“I need to play at a certain level and plan on doing it from here on out,” Heyward said.
Getting a player like Alualu back is big. The 35-year-old was coaxed back to return to the Steelers after a agreeing to a contract with Jacksonville last offseason. Alualu suffered an injury in the second game of last season and missed the rest of the year. The previous four seasons, the former first-round pick missed only two games. He was a solid rotational player and 22-time starter. The 6’3”, 304-pounder would mostly be in the middle, but in certain sets could be one of two linemen on the field.
“When it’s a player of his caliber and his talent, it’s always a collective group,” Alualu said of the effort needed to replace Tuitt’s production. “I think a lot of guys throughout the years have stepped up and filled that void. It’s always about the next man up mentality, the standard remains the standard regardless of who is in there. Collectively as a group we have to make this happen.”
Kudos for working in a pair of Tomlinisms into one sentence. Alualu should be a NASCAR driver.
Wormley was right in it being an opportunity for him. He’s added five-to-seven pounds from last season. Adding he didn’t do it by going to Taco Bell every night either.
“When Tyson went down and Tuitt wasn’t playing last year, it allowed me to get into more of a rhythm throughout the season, throughout games, throughout series,” Wormley said. “I felt I grew from that to be able to play 50-plus snaps a game. It allowed me to get into a rhythm and flourish like I did last year.”
“It allows me to have another opportunity to showcase what I can do. Not saying I didn’t want Tuitt back, but I know what I can do when I’m given a full season with the opportunity to play. Going into year six, time is ticking when it comes to being able to produce and make a life for myself.”
Wormley started 14 games in 2021 with seven sacks, six tackles for loss as part of 51 total tackles. Criticized for his run defense, probably more based on the team results than individual, the Michigan product was the 14th ranked interior defensive lineman against the rush according to Pro Football Focus.
The team re-signed Montravius Adams who started four of the last five games of the 2021 season after he was picked up off waivers from the Saints. Adams is 26 years-old and 6’4”, 304 pounds and played in half of the defensive snaps in those five games.
A 2021 fifth-round pick, the 24-year-old Loudermilk says he’s been watching film all off-season and feels good about his game. He even boldly said ‘you really can’t stop the growth’. That would go for his weight as well, listed at 249 pounds in his final year at Wisconsin, the second-year pro is listed at 297 pounds now.
“I’ve been preparing the same throughout the whole offseason,” Loudermilk said. “It’s still the same for me. I’m still going about my business the same whether there is an open spot there or not. It hasn’t changed for me. I’m still doing the best I can every day. For whatever role I’m thrown into, I will be ready for it.”
It’s a similar conversation with the team’s 2022 third-round pick. DeMarvin Leal says being ‘only’ 290 pounds doesn’t impact his ability to stop the run. The 6’4” tackle or end says his technique, quickness and mentality of beating that first step allows him to ‘get after it’.
“The opportunity is here,” Leal said adding it kind of sucks how it happened and wished he could have learned from Tuitt. “Learning quickly and being able to do everything right now.”
“I feel like I’ve picked it up pretty well. Just being able to go out there, communicate with the guy right next to me and just get right down and do it instantly. Don’t have any exterior, overthinking thoughts or making a false step. Get right to it and move.”
Leal then unwittingly dropped a Tomlinism says he played a lot his freshman year at Texas A&M because he was ‘next man up’.
The Steelers don’t have a next man owning the combination of skills of Stephon Tuitt, but there are opportunities for the young, and old to prove themselves in the next few months.