Welcome to the BTSC Pittsburgh Steelers ‘Think Tank’. Here is where there will be a general question asked, and the answer will be hashed out in the comment section below the article. Unlike in the Friday Night Six Pack, and other articles which are banking on fan responses, this is just one topic to discuss.
Today’s think tank question revolves around the fact the team now has to try and replace Stephon Tuitt for the remainder of the 2019 season after he suffered a torn pectoral muscle which will require surgery in the team’s Week 6 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Throughout the first six weeks of the regular season, Tuitt wasn’t just playing at a Pro Bowl level, but an All-Pro level. In the early portion of the season Tuitt was not just a wrecking ball along the defensive front, but had already accounted for 3.5 sacks, well on his way to shattering his career high of 6.5 sacks.
Tuitt, like when Cameron Heyward was lost for the year with the same pectoral injury, is not going to be easily replaced. The Steelers signed L.T. Walton to fill Tuitt’s roster spot, but it will be Tyson Alualu who will become a starter in Tuitt’s stead. But is that the best course of action for a Steelers team who will need to have someone step up and help ease the loss of Tuitt?
Believe it or not, the team has options, and of course the one option which will most likely happen is what has already been stated. That option would be Alualu supplanting the left defensive end position. But can they do anything else? They absolutely can, and that would be with Javon Hargrave.
Hargrave is a nose tackle on the roster, but can certainly move to the end position both in their base 3-4 defense, and in sub packages, if needed. At this point you have to wonder what would be the best option for the Steelers’ defense? Alualu fills the role of backup well, but is he a player who can actually become the starter?
The Steelers have been utilizing a rotation between Tuitt, Heyward, Alulalu and occasionally Hargrave. Will this continue? Or with them having to tap into the depth chart for more consistent contributions will the team come up with a different option?
So, with that said, what do you think the Steelers should do to help ease the loss of Tuitt? Let us know in the Steelers Think Tank, or as we like to call it the comment section, below.