Steelers bring back a familiar face that never should have been let go in the first place amid concerning defensive trend
The Pittsburgh Steelers made a surprising call at the 53-man roster deadline when they let Elandon Roberts walk after a standout preseason. Now Mike McCarthy has confirmed what comes next for the veteran linebacker in Pittsburgh.
Well, it is official. A familiar face who honestly never should have left is headed back to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Steelers Now’s Alan Saunders first reported that Pittsburgh is re-signing linebacker Elandon Roberts. Steelers coach Mike McCarthy then confirmed during his weekly press conference that the veteran will join the team’s practice squad. For a defense that keeps letting ball carriers slip away, this is a move worth paying attention to.
Elandon Roberts’ strange summer with the Steelers
To understand why this matters, you have to remember how odd Roberts’ summer was. He was barely around during the offseason program, and he didn’t show up until late in training camp. The Steelers offensive line gave him the nickname “Fresh Legs” because of how little he had practiced.
Then the preseason started, and Roberts was phenomenal. He blew up plays, finished tackles, and looked every bit like the sure-handed linebacker this defense needed.
That is what made the next part so surprising. When the roster deadline came, Pittsburgh did not keep him on the 53-man roster. The team did not keep him on the practice squad, either. The Steelers simply cut bait with arguably their best tackler.
It was a head-scratcher at the time, and it looks even worse now.
Why the Steelers need Elandon Roberts right now
The reason for bringing him back is easy to see. Pittsburgh’s secondary, and really the entire back seven, linebackers included, continues to struggle with tackling.
We saw it against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football. To be fair to the defense, it did a good job for most of the game against the Indianapolis Colts and running back Jonathan Taylor. Even so, the same issue reared its head again, and the Steelers just could not get ball carriers on the ground consistently.
Missed tackles turn short gains into chunk plays. Over the course of a season, those chunk plays add up, and that’s how a defense with real potential ends up giving away games. It’s simply not good enough.
That’s where Roberts comes in. If anybody is going to be a sure tackler and a field general for this unit, it’s him. He brings a downhill, physical presence that the Steelers have been missing, and he already knows the defense after spending the summer in Pittsburgh.
Could Roberts be elevated to the active roster soon?
For now, Roberts lands on the practice squad. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Pittsburgh elevates him in the short term.
Elevating a practice squad player allows a team to bring him up for game day without committing a full 53-man roster spot. Given how much the tackling issues have hurt the Steelers, it would make sense to get Roberts back on the field sooner rather than later. A veteran who can clean up plays and get the rest of the unit lined up correctly is exactly what this defense is lacking.
There is also the matter of how fresh he should be. Roberts didn’t take on much of a workload during the summer, and he hasn’t been taking regular-season hits with another team. If those “Fresh Legs” are still fresh, the Steelers should get a motivated player who has something to prove after being let go.
Putting Roberts on the practice squad is a very good move for Pittsburgh. It’s a low-risk way to correct a roster mistake, and it gives the Steelers a proven tackler they can lean on the moment the missed tackles show up again. Now it’s on the coaching staff to actually use him.
