The Pittsburgh Steelers have fortified their depth in the linebacker room. After bringing him in for a tryout recently, the black and gold have signed Nick Kwiatkoski according to Colin Dunlap of 93.7 The Fan. Kwiatkoski is entering his eighth season in the NFL and has played for the Chicago Bears, Las Vegas Raiders and most recently, Atlanta Falcons.
Along with Kwiatkoski, the Steelers have also signed a long-snapper in Rex Sunahara according to his agency Special Teams U . He will compete with Christian Kuntz for that role as the team has been looking for legitimate competition there for a few months. Former Baltimore Ravens tight end, Nick Boyle came to rookie minicamp as a long-snapper, but he didn’t end up getting signed.
The Kwiatkoski signing comes as no surprise as the team has searched for additional depth at the position ever since they didn’t draft a true inside linebacker in April. They met with guys like 2017 Pro Bowler, Kwon Alexander and Jermaine Carter Jr., so this probably rules out their chances of coming to Pittsburgh. Kwiatkoski will presumably compete with Mark Robinson to be a primary backup to Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts.
In his career, Kwiatkoski has played a ton of special teams and has racked up 1,257 snaps in seven seasons. The 2016 fourth-rounder has actually excelled in pass coverage in his career, which brings a bit of a change to the linebacker room. In particular, Robinson, the other primary backup, is known as a thumper in the running game. This signing of Kwiatkoski brings a solid balance to the room.
Is Kwiatkoski The Steelers' No. 3 ILB Now?
While fans expected Robinson to possibly push for a starting job, Defensive Coordinator, Teryl Austin came out and said quite the opposite. He said that the 2022 seventh-rounder would likely compete for a spot in 2024, meaning he’s still a year away. Still, come training camp time, it'll be interesting to watch these guys on the field to see how the depth chart truly shakes out.
In addition to the four aforementioned names, special teams ace, Tanner Muse will round out the linebacker room. Barring a surprise, those five guys seem to be making up the linebacker group. While Muse is mostly known as a special teamer, he could see a few snaps on defense as well. He has seen just 80 snaps on defense in his career, but he did have an impressive interception during Organized Team Activites (OTAs).
In his seven NFL seasons, Kwiatkoski has started 34 of 89 games games. In 2022, his lone season with the Falcons, he didn't appear in a single defensive snap. Instead, he became a true special teams ace, as he played 228 snaps there. He hasn't started a game at linebacker since 2020, when he started 12 contests for the Raiders. With that though, it's important to temper expectations a bit.
How much playing time at linebacker do you think Kwiatkoski will get? Will Robinson or Kwiatkoski be the primary backup to Holcomb and Roberts? Is this more of a special teams signing than a linebacker one?
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