Grading The Steelers Linebacker Swap: Who Is The Superior Player?

The Pittsburgh Steelers made a bit of a linebacker swap on the first two days of the legal tampering period. They lost Robert Spillane to the Las Vegas Raiders and signed Cole Holcomb from the Washington Commanders. Did the Steelers come out on top with the flip?

Spillane was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Tennessee Titans in 2018. After a single season with the Titans, he was signed by the Steelers where he spent time on the practice squad before becoming a starter in 2020. 

Pittsburgh seems to be cleaning the linebacker room out and letting their free agents move on. Spillane has signed elsewhere and it seems likely that the former phenom Devin Bush and backup Marcus Allen will be looking for new homes.   

Holcomb was selected by Washington in the 2019 NFL Draft. He was in the midst of the best season of his career in 2022 with 69 tackles in seven games when a foot injury that needed surgery sidelined him. 

He has shown substantial growth during his time in the league. He has amassed 388 total tackles, 239 solos, 15 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, and three interceptions. Holcomb appears athletic and strong at 6'1" and 240 lbs. 

Did The Steelers Win With The Holcomb Signing?

It will be interesting to see how training camp and pre-season shakes out and who Holcomb, who is 26, will be lined up across from in 2023. He may not provide the splash plays of a top-tier player, but he is solid and dependable. During his time in Washington, he became a reliable leader on the team. The Steelers can count on him in coverage and against the run. 

Holcomb is not quite as good as rookie Bush was, but he is a definite upgrade over Spillane. When the Steelers signed Spillane, they had hoped for him to be quick and to cover well, but he proved to be inconsistent. Holcomb is quick off the ball (he ran a 4.48 during his pro day four years ago) and is able to play sideline-to-sideline on all three downs. 

During the 2021 season, his last full season, he played 587 snaps in coverage. That ranked him 8th in the NFL among "off-ball" linebackers. He had five takeaways during that season, by comparison, the Steelers' entire middle linebacker's room had zero takeaways in 2022.

Mike DeFabo, who writes for The Athletic, posted a comparison of Spillane and Holcomb on his Twitter page on Wednesday. While they reference their stats from their pro days, the numbers definitely favor Holcomb.