Before we get into the NFL Scouting Combine and the Steelers' best targets for the coming draft, we are assigning our final grades throughout the roster. We will take the next couple of weeks to go through the different positional groups and evaluate how the different players performed, whether they improved or hurt their stock during the season, and where the team's biggest needs rest.
We start this series with the group that was considered the most dire need last season, the outside linebackers:
ARTHUR MOATS
We start with the oldest of the unit, now that James Harrison is no longer with the team. Moats saw one of the sharpest declines in playing time on the team this season.
Moats played 396 snaps, 37.86% of the defense, in 2016 and was a regular option at outside linebacker to spell Bud Dupree, Jarvis Jones and Harrison. His play allowed Keith Butler to create a regular rotation at outside linebacker in order to keep fresh legs at the position.
However, in 2017 Moats only played 84 defensive snaps, or 8.56% of all defensive plays. Moats essentially doubled Harrison's snap count (40) before Deebo was released from the team.
Nineteen of Moats' 84 snaps came when the team asked him to try being an inside linebacker to replace Ryan Shazier against the Ravens late in the season. But what became clear early in the season was the Steelers were intent on playing outside linebackers who could rotate from coverage, to pass rush to stopping the run.
Moats, 29, saw the least time of any outside linebacker that remained on the team, primarily because of his lack of coverage skills. Dale Lolley talked with Moats during the weekend about the changing role of outside linebacker for the Steelers.
Of all the players in the unit, Moats was the slowest and least explosive. But he earned his respect by knowing where to be and how to play within the Steelers' scheme when asked.
Even so, for what the Steelers are asking out of the position, Moats doesn't fit the mold. Moats' contract expired this season and he becomes an unrestricted free agent March 14. His diminished role in the defense suggests the Steelers probably won't bring him back, but having veterans around who know the system has been something the organization has traditionally valued.
ANTHONY CHICKILLO
Chickillo saw the next lowest amount of snaps from the unit after Moats, but more than three times the amount of the older linebacker. Chickillo played 269 snaps, 27.42%, for the defense and started in two games.
Chickillo is a different style of linebacker than Moats, particularly because most of his plays come from his hustle. Chickillo isn't the strongest at his position or the most technical, but he works through his assignment to make plays.
One of the best examples came when Chickillo had his best game of the season on opening day against the Browns. He had two sacks on DeShone Kizer and recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown. One of those sacks was the perfect example of his hustle efforts.
Notice how Chickillo, highlighted in red, attacks the edge but is initially stunted by the right tackle. When Chickillo realizes he can't brush right by, he keeps his head up to help contain the mobile Kizer. He uses his inside hand to anchor the tackle, then swims him with the same arm to get a free shot at Kizer:
Chickillo is only 25 and still possesses a decent burst that can help him cover some space. His biggest weaknesses come in his one-on-one matchups and needing to win to contain edges and maintain gap integrity. Check Jordan Howard's game-winning touchdown run when the Bears beat the Steelers in Week 3.
The Bears motion their tight end to Chickillo's side and leave him to keep Chickillo from closing the gap for Howard to run through. While the rest of the offensive line slides away from Chickillo, he is completely stagnated by the tight end and forces Ryan Shazier to cover too much ground:
This is where Chickillo is a liability and why he cannot be a starter for the defense. Still, his youth makes him a solid candidate to fill in at outside linebacker.
Like Moats, Chickillo doesn't have a contract with the Steelers that extends into 2018. He's a restricted free agent and the team is likely to offer a tender.
T.J. WATT
Watt started most of his rookie season and burst onto the scene with two sacks, five tackles and an interception on opening day against the Browns. Watt's sack production was often unlike Chickillo's in that they weren't pure hustle plays, because Watt wins battles with his athleticism and his rush skills.
When I watched Watt on film at Wisconsin and during training camp in Latrobe, I noticed he often didn't use pass rush moves to beat offensive tackles around the edge. Watt would often rely purely on being faster off the ball than his opponent instead of combining his quick first step with different hand techniques to disengage from the tackle.
That seemed to change early in the season, especially when he beat future Hall of Fame tackle Joe Thomas with a spin move that worked back inside to sack Kizer. Watt does everything right on this play by exploding off the ball and using his inside hand to keep Thomas at bay, while also forcing Thomas to come out wide enough to open up the space for his spin move to get to Kizer:
In the early weeks of the 2017 NFL season, I saw Watt employ several moves that looked practiced and fit the bill of traditional pass rush moves successful NFL edge rushers use to make their best plays. But as the season continued, the frequency of those moments diminished.
Watt finished his rookie season with seven sacks, which is a decent number for a rookie. But the reason he didn't produce more throughout the season was because he failed to use enough of what he had learned in an aggressive fashion throughout the season.
Take this play as an example, when Watt was not only so slow off the ball the Jaguars' left tackle got two steps into position before Watt was across the line of scrimmage, but Watt has no real move to counter and get after Blake Bortles:
This is a natural issue for a youngster who loses those moves as his season continues. The NFL always has a huge learning curve for rookies, and much of that comes with adapting to the professional caliber of play and having to learn a new scheme that you face every week.
When that becomes the focus, it is that much more difficult for a rookie to retain what he learned on the hot summer days of August for cold December nights. Even Watt's biggest play of the year, his strip-sack of Joe Flacco that beat the Ravens and clinched the AFC North, didn't feature a distinct learned pass rush move.
Watt shot off the ball and slapped down the hands of the right tackle while dipping his shoulder to get around the edge. He was quicker than his opponent and used that to win the battle, but there wasn't much of a technical move that won the play:
While it is good Watt can win these battles with athleticism on occasion, he can elevate his pedigree as a pass rusher by honing those moves along with the more natural actions. If he does this, he can combine his physical talents with a technical skill that could make for a dangerous combination against any offensive tackle.
But what also worked in Watt's favor was his versatility in being able to drop from the position of a potential pass rusher to be back in coverage and be quick enough to attack potential receivers. In Butler's defense, that kind of ability has become essential to the role of a starting outside linebacker.
Watch how Watt, circled on the left, drops into coverage and quickly attacks Alex Collins as Flacco throws the ball:
Watt had a solid rookie season, but he will need to improve on his techniques during the offseason to be a featured pass rusher for the Steelers. If he does, he could bring back the kind of rush that's been missing for the organization at the position since the days of Harrison and LaMarr Woodley.
BUD DUPREE
Dupree comes into his contract year with the team without the big numbers expected of a first round pick as an edge rusher in his third year. His six sacks in 2017 not only were bettered by the rookie, Watt, but they were the most he's had in his career.
The problem Dupree faces is that he hasn't been strong enough on the edge to control his opponents at the point of attack. Dupree's strengths are built off of being explosive and fast in space so he can breeze by defenders rather than overpowering them.
While speed is great to have, it doesn't help when you're an outside linebacker who can be collapsed to the inside part of the defense. That happened too often to Dupree in 2017, and here is an example when the Ravens used a tight end to seal him to the inside so that Collins could break off a 21-yard run:
While Dupree isn't the most outside man here, he needs to at least drive the tight end into the backfield to disrupt the running path of Collins. This is why Dupree has so few sacks, because once an opponent gets his hands on him and it becomes a hand battle, often he doesn't have the strength or consistent technique to disengage and get after his assignment.
Dupree is at his best when Butler dials up a blitz that allows him to win with his quickness and speed rather than being overly physical. Take this stunt blitz where he sacks Andy Dalton against the Bengals early in the season.
Dupree lines up outside of Tyson Alualu, whose job it is to occupy the right guard just enough so that when Dupree stunts to the inside that he can't recover and get in his way. The timing was perfect, as by the time Dupree crossed behind Alualu, the guard was still engaged with what he thought would be the biggest threat to the middle of the offensive line:
These are the moments when Dupree is the most dangerous in Butler's defense. Even against the run, when he can get off the ball and beat his man across the line of scrimmage, Dupree is a threat because he can run with most running backs in the NFL.
Here's an example when he disrupted an inside zone run to Marlon Mack and the Colts, simply by dipping around the edge and being in the backfield:
Dupree's athleticism, in his quickness and speed, is certainly an asset that adds value to the team. However, they need him to be much stronger at the point of attack in 2018 as both he and Watt will be the primary agents of setting the edge against the run and creating that outside rush.
His contract year has him as a $2.9 million cap hit to the Steelers, but if he wants a better deal in an extension, he will need to boost those sack numbers closer to double digits and be much more effective against the run.
STATE OF THE UNIT
The outside linebackers may have found a new star in Watt, but they still aren't the reliable group of pass rushers the great defenses from the Dick LeBeau days of the Steelers have called upon. That is due in part to the changed role of a 3-4 outside linebacker in this defensive system, but it is also because Dupree and Watt are still not regular pass rushing technicians.
Both Moats and Chickillo being free agents mean that the Steelers do have decisions to make when it comes to the depth of this group. I foresee them most likely bringing back Chickillo and adding a faster cover option to replace Moats.
All things considered, the state of this unit looks brighter simply because Watt was added and Dupree finished the season healthy. But both will need to improve their consistency in order to get the defense to a higher level. If Dupree can work on being less of the player who loses at the point of attack and at least neutralizes runs to his side, that alone would be a huge boost to the group.
Look for Watt to come out in 2018 with a higher frequency of spin moves, rip moves and other techniques to get after the passer. Now that he has a full season under his belt, he should have a better ability to maintain the consistent application of those moves and hone them over the span of his second season in the league.
Final Grade: C+
DALE LOLLEY'S STOCK
Defenders need to be hybrid rush-and-cover players more than ever. Watt fits that mold. I'm not sure Dupree does because of his lack of instinct. He's got the athletic ability, but he might always be a guy who takes a year to adjust. He was actually good down the stretch in 2016. I do expect Watt to be much better in his second year than as a rookie, when he seemed to hit a wall.
The depth here, like at inside linebacker, could be better. We'll see what Keion Adams brings to the table in 2018 after spending the season on IR. But a third-round pick at outside linebacker wouldn't surprise me. -- Lolley
Carter's Classroom returns Wednesday to review the wide receivers.
