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On the most recent episode of the Steelers Stat Geek podcast I was asked to dive into the linebacker position and how many the Steelers generally keep both as a whole and split between inside linebacker and outside linebacker. To best answer the question, I researched back as far as I could get adequate data as to how many players the Steelers kept at each position for the inside and outside linebacker when they made their initial cuts down to 53 players to start the season.
Based on it being internet research, the farther back I looked, the more difficult it was to get quality data. For this reason, I cut off at the 2010 NFL season and looked back at the last 13 years.
One thing to keep in mind is that even though these were the initial 53-man rosters, there still could be changes that were made prior to the Steelers first game. For example, the Steelers kept four outside linebackers in 2018 only for Ola Adeniyi to land on the Reserve/Injured List the following day and the Steelers to play most of the season with only three outside linebackers. They were other seasons in which there was a tweak to the roster ahead of the first game, but tracking them all down may have had some slip through the cracks so I simply stuck with the initial roster.
But looking at the initial roster only paints part of the picture. For this reason I also looked at how many players at each position appeared in at least one game for the Steelers during that season. In some cases the numbers still lineup, while others they did not. Also, when a player is simply listed as a “linebacker” and only appeared on special teams, it is sometimes difficult to determine whether they were truly an inside linebacker or outside linebacker especially when they were playing 10 years ago. While I may not have been perfect, I did my best to break down each player and put them in the proper category.
So without further ado, here is a list starting with a 2022 season and working back to 2010 as to how many players the Steelers kept at inside linebacker and outside linebacker as well as how many different players appeared in a game listed at that position throughout the season.
2022
Original 53-man roster:
Inside: 4
Outside: 4
Total: 8
Appearing during the season:
Inside: 5
Outside: 6
Total: 11
2021
Original 53-man roster:
Inside: 6
Outside: 4
Total: 10
Appearing during the season:
Inside: 7
Outside: 5
Total: 12
2020
Original 53-man roster:
Inside: 4
Outside: 4
Total: 8
Appearing during the season:
Inside: 7
Outside: 6
Total: 13
2019
Original 53-man roster:
Inside: 5
Outside: 5
Total: 10
Appearing during the season:
Inside: 6
Outside: 5
Total: 11
2018
Original 53-man roster:
Inside: 5
Outside: 4
Total: 9
Appearing during the season:
Inside: 5
Outside: 4
Total: 9
2017
Original 53-man roster:
Inside: 4
Outside: 5
Total: 9
Appearing during the season:
Inside: 6
Outside: 5
Total: 11
2016
Original 53-man roster:
Inside: 5
Outside: 5
Total: 10
Appearing during the season:
Inside: 6
Outside: 5
Total: 11
2015
Original 53-man roster:
Inside: 5
Outside: 5
Total: 10
Appearing during the season:
Inside: 5
Outside: 5
Total: 10
2014
Original 53-man roster:
Inside: 4
Outside: 4
Total: 8
Appearing during the season:
Inside: 5
Outside: 4
Total: 9
2013
Original 53-man roster:
Inside: 4
Outside: 4
Total: 8
Appearing during the season:
Inside: 6
Outside: 4
Total: 10
2012
Original 53-man roster:
Inside: 4
Outside: 5
Total: 9
Appearing during the season:
Inside: 5
Outside: 5
Total: 10
2011
Original 53-man roster:
Inside: 4
Outside: 5
Total: 9
Appearing during the season:
Inside: 5
Outside: 4
Total: 9
2010
Original 53-man roster:
Inside: 5
Outside: 4
Total: 9
Appearing during the season:
Inside: 4
Outside: 4
Total: 8
One thing that may have stood out more than anything else with this list is how many different linebackers the Steelers have used in recent years. With the max coming in 2020 with 13 total linebackers, it makes sense that the Steelers have stayed with numbers of more than 10 over the last three seasons. A reasonable explanation for this is the implementation of elevating players from the practice squad which has allowed some players to only appear in a few games each season and increase the overall numbers.
To sum up the entire exercise, over the last 13 seasons the Steelers have averaged 9.0 linebackers kept on the initial 53 man roster. For every season that the Steelers kept only eight linebackers, they had as many seasons in which they kept ten. So going with nine is the safest number while realizing that this could fluctuate up and down one player but has not been any more than this.
For more on the Steelers Stat Geek podcast, the entire episode can be heard in the player below:
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