LATROBE, Pa. -- Vince Williams has long been one of Mike Tomlin's favorite players. He's smart. He's a solid player. And he's a can-do man when it comes to doing what the coaching staff asks of him.
But he might not be too fond of what the coaching staff will ask of him next. And that would be to take a back seat when it comes to playing time in 2019.
Though nobody will officially come out and say it, it's becoming apparent Williams might be relegated to playing only in the base 3-4 package in 2019, as rookie Devin Bush and veteran Mark Barron, a free agent acquisition, supplant him in the team's sub packages.
The team went into the offseason looking to get faster at the inside linebacker position. And it did that by signing Barron in free agency and selecting Bush with the 10th pick in the draft.
"We’ve got more speed with Mark Barron and Devin," defensive coordinator Keith Butler told me Thursday.
And the idea, according to a source, is to use Bush and Barron in the nickel defense with five defensive backs, or Bush in the dime with six DBs.
As the source told me, "We're a better team with Vince playing less on defense and playing more on special teams."
That's where Williams, a seven-year pro, cut his teeth. The 2013 sixth-round draft pick has appeared in 93 games with the Steelers, making 47 starts. He was at his best in 2017, when he lined up next to speedy Ryan Shazier and Shazier did most of the coverage, allowing Williams to stuff the run and blitz. He had a career-high 88 tackles and recorded eight sacks that season.
But when Shazier went down with a back injury late in that season, it forced Williams into a more prominent role. And while he's handled many of the duties well, coverage just isn't going to be a strength.
The Steelers played their base defense 30 percent of the time in 2018, which was the eighth most in the league and an increase over the 25 percent they had played in 2017. More important, they played the dime with one linebacker -- usually Williams -- on the field 36 percent of the time. That was the third most in the league.
The idea this season is to play more nickel. The Steelers used the nickel 33 percent of the time last season, but that ranked 30th in the league. The nickel defense has become the base defense of much of the league. And the Steelers feel they are better suited to play it this year with Barron and Bush than they were last season with Williams and Jon Bostic.
They just don't want to tip their hand on their plan before opening the season Sept. 8 at New England.
"Yes, because we have better guys," Butler admitted when I asked if they wanted to play more nickel. "Barron is a good asset for us, and so is Devin. Vince is a hard guy to stop when he’s rushing the quarterback. We’ve got some specialty guys. We’re just not going to tell you how we’re going to use them. We’re going to make them see it in the first game, just like we’ll see from (New England). We know what they might do. We know what they did last year and in the Super Bowl. Shoot, they must have run the ball in the first 10 plays of the Super Bowl. We’ve got to be ready to play in that element."
MORE STEELERS
• It's been a straw poll, but I've been poking around and talking to people within the organization about who the leading candidate might be to eventually replace Kevin Colbert when the Steelers GM finally does retire. You'll recall that over the weekend, Colbert said he won't sign an extension beyond this season and will go year to year with his contracts from here on out. The name that everyone I've spoken with keeps coming back to is Pro Scouting Coordinator Brandon Hunt. Hunt is in his 10th season with the Steelers in that position after spending two seasons with the Texans as a pro scout. He was initially hired by the Steelers in 2005 as a scouting intern before leaving in 2007 for Houston. The only other in-house candidates who were mentioned were Samir Suleiman, the team's Football Administration Coordinator, and Phil Kreidler, the College Scouting Coordinator. Suleiman did a lot of GM-type duties when he was with the Rams from 2000 through 2009, while Kreidler is in his 29th season in the Steelers' organization. But Hunt would appear to be the leading in-house candidate. -- Lolley
• So, no, Omar Khan does not appear to be a candidate to replace Colbert, despite the fact he has interviewed for some GM posts around the league in the past. Khan, the Steelers' Vice President of Football and Business Administration, knows the business side of the NFL as well as anyone. He's the Steelers' chief contract negotiator and is in his 19th season with the team. But the scouting duties that are involved with being a GM are not his cup of tea. In fact, I was told by a source that Art Rooney II told Khan in the past he will not be the man to replace Colbert. -- Lolley
• The Steelers lost Darius Heyward-Bey and L.J. Fort in the offseason. They were core special teams players. And they really weren't replaced. Instead, the Steelers will be counting on a lot of younger players to step into those positions. That's why Tyler Matakevich's spot on the roster is all but assured. He led the team with 11 special teams tackles last season after making 14 in 2017 and 12 as a rookie in 2016. He's not going anywhere. -- Lolley
PIRATES
• How does a bullpen coach get suspended two games by a team within a few days of a reliever getting suspended two games by the same team? The answer is there's likely more of a common denominator than what's been made public. Keone Kela was suspended two games by the Pirates for getting into a heated argument with Hector Morales, the team’s cultural awareness director and peak performance coach. That much has been made known. But what wasn't known, and what one source tells me from within, was that Euclides Rojas' two-game suspension this week apparently came for exactly the same reason. Also involving Morales. I wasn't told any more than that, and I don't know Morales at all. But here's a thought: Maybe keep him -- and whatever he does with that weird title -- away from the big-league clubhouse. The guys getting suspended matter a hell of a lot more than he does. – DK
• Clint Hurdle pretty much laughed off being taken down by David Bell during Tuesday night’s fight in Cincinnati. That also happened to be Hurdle’s 62nd birthday. However, it’s instructive to remember that Hurdle has two artificial hips. One of the first things surgeons warn hip-transplant patients about is the dangers of falling. Falls can cause the titanium implants that serve as the hip joints to puncture through the skin. So, the fight represented a very dangerous situation for Hurdle that could have resulted in him undergoing two more reconstructive surgeries along with the arduous rehabs that go with them. No wonder, in a quiet moment Wednesday, Hurdle admitted to me that he was concerned when he hit the deck. – John Perrotto
• There was some speculation in the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s trade deadline that Starling Marte might be dealt because he is in the last guaranteed season of his six-year, $31-million contract — there are club options for the last two years. However, his name never appeared in any trade rumors and executives from multiple teams said his name never came up in conversations. That should be taken as a clear sign the Pirates plan to exercise Marte’s $11.5-million team option for next season rather than buy him out for $2 million. They also hold a $12.5-million option for 2021 with a $1-million buyout. – Perrotto
• If there was any doubt that the Pirates had a high asking price on Felipe Vazquez before the deadline, then consider that Neal Huntington continually referred to the two-time All-Star closer as “the best relief pitcher in baseball” when teams inquired about him. – Perrotto
• Cody Ponce, the minor-league pitcher the Pirates acquired in the Jordan Lyles trade, was converted from a starter to a reliever by the Brewers last season in the minor leagues. However, a scout who has watched Ponce extensively at the Double-A level in the Southern League believes the Pirates might be wise to give him another shot at starting, citing the makings of an above-average changeup as a third pitch to go with a fastball and a cutter that is especially tough on left-handed hitters. -- Perrotto
PENGUINS
• Phil Kessel seemed to be well-liked by his teammates during his four seasons here, and it's reasonable to believe that most, and quite possibly all, of them hope he does well in Arizona. But it also seems safe to assume that a lot of them will be looking on with considerable interest to see how he handles what will be a decidedly different role with the Coyotes. Oh, Arizona will look for him to score and set up goals, just like every other team for which Kessel has played, but he publicly has stated his desire to take on more leadership duties with his new team. There's not much evidence that was a significant part of his repertoire during his tenure with the Penguins. Even more intriguing is how Kessel -- a renowned introvert, at least when dealing with people outside his circle of family, friends and teammates -- will adapt to being something close to the face of the Coyotes' franchise. His acquisition led to a spike in tickets sales, and the combination of his skill and experience level make him a logical choice to be something of a spokesman for the club in coming seasons. Handling those duties on a regular basis could be a challenge for a guy who routinely tried to be out of the locker room before it was opened to reporters during his days with the Penguins. -- Dave Molinari
• The Penguins' roster for the annual prospects tournament in Buffalo next month probably won't be announced for a little while, but the group of players they will send to that competition has been set for a while. "We prepare that team the week prior to, and the week after, the draft," Jim Rutherford said. Deciding who will go is very much a group effort — the parties involved include Rutherford, Bill Guerin, Jason Karmanos, Patrik Allvin and members of the amateur scouting staff, as well as members of the player-development staff. And they don't simply pull names out of a hat to determine which eligible prospects will take part. "We want as many of our players there as we can," Rutherford said. "Then, on top of that, we try to bring players we may have interest in signing. Same as we did a few years ago, when we ended up signing three players coming out of that." -- Molinari
• Forward Jared Spooner, the unquestioned standout of the Penguins' recent development camp, isn't their property. That's how it goes with these camps. Undrafted, unsigned players will do a tour of several camps, hoping to impress. Spooner achieved that, drawing rave reviews from Scott Young and other team officials, but he doesn't expect to sign. He told me he fully intends to return to Minnesota State University for another year, then revisit his options afterward. "It means a lot to me," he said of returning to school. The Penguins will keep an eye on him and would welcome the chance to sign him, as one official -- not Young -- told me. -- DK
