PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – First it was Devin Bush, the starter lost for the season with a knee injury on October 18 against Cleveland. Robert Spillane filed in with a splash-play pick six against Baltimore and seemed to solidify that position. Spillane suffered a knee injury on Monday. He hasn’t practiced this week.
Now after practicing on Wednesday, Vince Williams placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.
That’s 134 tackles, all likely gone and the Steelers are facing one of the toughest road tests of the year Sunday night in Buffalo.
So who is next?
Their leading tackler is still there and he’s a middle linebacker. However only 11 of Avery Williamson’s 71 tackles have come as a Steeler and he has only 81 snaps so far in that position in black and gold.
“Yeah, [Avery Williamson] is picking it up,” said defensive coordinator Keith Butler. “It seems someone was really timely making that trade. You know what I’m saying?”
“You never know. You never know how injuries are going to affect you or what’s going on with COVID.”
Funny, Butler said this before it was announced that Williams was out and likely he’s also foreshadowing Spillane’s availability.
Beyond the veteran Williamson, the Steelers have Marcus Allen, a converted safety from Penn State who didn’t play until the first Baltimore game and has 60 total snaps this year with 9 tackles and a QB hit.
“Hopefully, we will be in good shape,” Butler said. “Marcus [Allen], we brought him in if you noticed. We bring him in on third down quite a bit to do a lot of the coverage stuff for us.”
Now Allen will have to do more of the hitting, still undersized at 215 pounds, relatively light for a linebacker.
Steelers could use safety Terrell Edmunds more in the box and they have a veteran safety in Sean Davis who knows the system if they want to get creative, but do you really want to mess with something that is working in the secondary against a Buffalo team that is fifth in the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns.
Last year’s sixth round pick, Ulysees Gilbert from Akron, has resumed practicing and could be activated off the injured list in time for Sunday. Gilbert played 14 defensive snaps against the Titans before his injury, not registering a tackle. Last year, Gilbert played in seven games, all of his snaps coming on special teams.
After that, the Steelers would have to go to the practice squad. There are currently two options.
The first is a local, twice over. Chartiers Valley grad and Duquesne All-American Christian Kuntz is in his second stint with the Steelers after also spending time with New England, Denver, Jacksonville and the XFL. Kuntz has never played a down in the NFL.
Second is Tegray Scales, a first-team All-Big 10 player out of Indiana who has travelled a lot in three years in the NFL. Started with the Rams in 2018, released on final cut day and in December signed on the Colts practice squad. Scales spent last year’s off-season with the Steelers, then released on cut day. Played in the XFL. Signed with Tampa Bay in October, lasted 2 weeks, signed with the Steelers again, designated for the practice squad on November 11 having never played in a NFL game.
Steelers could go to the waiver wire, but it would take a few days for that player to clear COVID protocols.
Are there options for the Steelers? Yes. But it’s really getting thin.