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Steelers Snap Counts: What Happened to Mark Robinson?
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Steelers Snap Counts: What Happened to Mark Robinson?

Originally posted on Steelers Now  |  By Alan Saunders  |  Last updated Nov 22, 2023 9:30 PM ET

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Mark Robinson in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft, which is not usually a fast path to superstardom.

But the young running back-turned-linebacker turned heads as a rookie and carved out a role as a special teamer right away last fall. By the end of the 2022 season, injuries and ineffective play cut down the team’s linebacker depth and Robinson was given an opportunity.

He started the last two games of the 2022 season, against run-heavy teams in Cleveland and Baltimore, where his game seemed more polished than his draft stock indicated.

All of that seemed to have him poised for a 2023 season that promised a larger role for Robinson.

But that didn’t materialize, as the Steelers hit on a trio of free agent signings at his position in Kwon Alexander, Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts. Robinson returned to his special teams role and waited for his opportunity, which appeared to come when Holcomb and Alexander went down with season-ending injuries in consecutive weeks.

But that didn’t materialize, either. Against the same Browns team that the Steelers trusted Robinson to start the game against last year, Robinson didn’t play a single snap of defense for the Steelers in their 13-10 Week 11 loss to the Cleveland Browns. Roberts played every single one of the team’s 75 defensive snaps. Mykal Walker, who just joined the team a month ago, played 63.

The Cleveland matchup seemed to fit Robinson’s playing style better than, say, Cincinnati’s more-spread attack coming up this week. Did the Steelers lose faith in Robinson? It’s an interesting question that we might not have the answer to for a while.

Almost a Full Return

When Diontae Johnson came back from a hamstring injury against the Los Angeles Rams last month, he played about half his normal workload. But when Pat Freiermuth came back from his hamstring injury against the Browns, he got pretty much his normal workload. Freiermuth played 31 snaps against the Browns. He had averaged 41 snaps per game before his injury, so he has a bit more to go, but it seems like the tight end is back to full health.

Interestingly, 18 of his 31 snaps were running plays, and Pro Football Focus gave Freiermuth an 81.6 run-blocking grade for his efforts.

Just One Two-Timer

The Steelers have been splitting carries between running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren nearly down the middle most of the season. Harris out-snapped Warren, 33-26 against Cleveland, but even with Warren putting on a clinic, the Steelers used their two-back Pony formation just once in the game.

STEELERS OFFENSIVE SNAP COUNTS

Pos Player SF CLE LV HOU BAL LAR JAX TEN GB CLE
QB Kenny
Pickett		 63 54 62 49 66 59 28 65 65 58
QB Mitch Trubisky 0 0 0 10 0 0 39 0 0 0
QB Mason Rudolph QB3 QB3 QB3 QB3 QB3 QB3 QB3 QB3 QB3 QB3
RB Najee
Harris		 33 31 31 29 37 34 35 38 33 33
RB Jaylen
Warren		 25 23 28 29 32 27 32 26 33 26
RB Anthony McFarland 5 IR IR IR IR IR IR IR 1 0
RB Qadree
Ollison		 — 0 1 — — — — — — —
RB Godwin Igwebuike — — INA INA INA 0 0 0 INA INA
WR George
Pickens		 56 46 55 58 58 53 62 58 62 53
WR Diontae Johnson 27 IR IR IR IR 39 61 57 53 50
WR Allen
Robinson II		 56 47 50 50 57 38 46 47 50 45
WR Calvin Austin III 35 41 45 53 37 7 18 17 13 10
WR Miles
Boykin		 5 4 8 6 12 0 5 6 9 6
WR Gunner Olszewski INA 1 INJ INA 4 — — — — —
TE Pat
Freiermuth		 32 41 49 30 INJ IR IR IR IR 31
TE Darnell Washingon 24 26 29 25 46 31 10 32 33 27
TE Connor Heyward 17 10 13 15 37 51 49 40 34 8
TE Rodney Williams II — — — — 4 11 12 3 3 0
LT Dan
Moore Jr.		 63 54 62 8 INJ 59 66 65 65 58
RT Chukwuma Okorafor 59 54 62 59 66 59 67 0 1 0
LG Issac
Seumalo		 63 54 62 59 66 59 67 65 65 58
RG James
Daniels		 63 54 62 INJ INJ 59 67 65 65 58
C Mason
Cole		 63 54 62 59 66 59 67 65 65 58
OT Broderick
Jones		 4 0 0 51 66 0 5 65 65 58
OT Dylan
Cook		 INA INA INA 0 0 INA INA INA INA INA
C/G Nate
Herbig		 0 0 0 59 66 0 0 0 0 0
OL Spencer Anderson 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
OL Ryan McCollum — — — — 0 — — — — —

STEELERS DEFENSIVE SNAP COUNTS

Pos Player SF CLE LV HOU BAL LAR JAX TEN GB CLE
DT Larry
Ogunjobi		 43 51 49 46 48 49 53 50 44 53
DT Montravius Adams 34 52 47 41 56 46 49 2 INA INA
DE DeMarvin
Leal		 26 39 33 21 INJ 23 14 24 4 5
NT Keeanu
Benton		 29 28 21 29 33 19 30 48 45 39
DT Armon
Watts		 INA 22 18 34 18 17 28 INA 22 27
DT Isaiahh Loudermilk 31 14 9 13 13 0 9 14 8 18
DT Cam
Heyward		 14 IR IR IR IR IR IR 41 40 46
NT Breiden
Fehoko		 — INA INA INA 0 INA INA INA INA —
OLB T.J.
Watt		 48 70 59 62 60 57 56 69 66 73
OLB Alex
Highsmith		 49 68 52 63 61 53 63 63 63 66
OLB Markus
Golden		 25 19 20 13 14 14 14 11 5 8
OLB Nick
Herbig		 16 17 13 4 5 12 9 7 2 3
ILB Cole
Holcomb		 53 78 53 63 64 56 64 16 IR IR
ILB Kwon
Alexander		 47 52 47 27 31 47 38 64 9 IR
ILB Elandon Roberts 29 27 17 42 29 19 31 37 65 75
ILB Mark
Robinson		 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 41 0
ILB Tariq
Carpenter		 — — — — — — — — 0 0
ILB Mykal
Walker		 — — — — — — — — — 63
CB Patrick
Peterson		 67 85 71 71 63 67 71 74 68 74
CB Levi
Wallace		 67 78 67 71 66 49 INJ 38 27 10
CB Joey
Porter Jr.		 7 14 27 10 28 53 59 70 68 68
CB James
Pierre		 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 0 0 12
CB Chandon Sullivan 13 47 18 21 24 22 28 16 19 27
CB Darius
Rush		 — — — — — INA 0 30 INA INA
CB Desmond
King		 — — 0 0 1 — — — — —
FS Minkah Fitzpatrick 68 46 72 71 70 68 8 INA INA INA
S Damontae Kazee 49 77 53 34 43 58 67 74 68 75
SS Keanu
Neal		 33 61 41 45 42 17 69 66 56 IR
SS Miles
Killebrew		 0 2 1 0 1 0 12 0 0 16
DB Elijah
Riley		 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 9
SS Trenton Thompson — — — — — — — — 7 58

This article first appeared on Steelers Now and was syndicated with permission.

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