What can we expect from Steelers signing of Sean Spence?

by Joe Kuzma (joe_kuzma) on December 7, 2017

Following a tragic injury to starting ILB Ryan Shazier and another in-game injury to his backup, Tyler Matkevich in Monday’s game against the Bengals, the Steelers were in need of some help.

And fast.

With both players appearing to be out for Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, the only other two inside linebackers on the Steeler active roster were Vince Williams (the other starter opposite Shazier) and L.J. Fort, an undrafted small-college standout who has fought his way on and off of the roster over the last few seasons.

Needless to say, the quality of players available during this time of the year is sparse, particularly ones who could step in and play if necessary on short notice. That’s why the Steelers may have gotten lucky that a former third-round draft pick of theirs was lying in wait. On Wednesday afternoon, the team made earlier reports official as they brought back linebacker Sean Spence who was drafted by them back in 2012.

We have signed linebacker Sean Spence to a one-year contract.

MORE: https://t.co/RdtnWGBgAp pic.twitter.com/DHD0jvCJTT

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 6, 2017

You may remember Spence’s story: a gruesome knee injury should’ve injured the promising linebacker’s career, but after two years of rehab, he bounced back to play with the Steelers for two seasons. A 13-game starter, Spence compiled 62 tackles and two sacks in 31 appearances with the Steelers.

Following the expiration of his rookie contract, Spence hit free agency where he rejoined his former coach, former Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, in Tennessee. Following a year similarly productive to his short spurts of playing time in Pittsburgh, Spence racked up 35 tackles and three sacks in one season with the Titans.

He again hit free agency this offseason, signing with the Indianapolis Colts, but was one of their final roster cuts before the regular season began. He rejoined the team for a few weeks in September before being released again in October. Without a home, Spence was likely awaiting a call from a team who might have a spot become available. I doubt he expected it to be his original team calling to inquire aobut his services.

But what might be Spence’s role going forward?

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Considering there’s a short week to prepare for the upcoming game with the Baltimore Ravens, I’m not certain what we should anticipate with Spence’s arrival. The good news is that Spence’s two seasons in Pittsburgh were both under the helm of current defensive coordinator Keith Butler. That means with a quick primer, there shouldn’t be as steep of a learning curve for Sean to jump right in and play.

The bad news is that the Steelers never considered bringing Spence back earlier, instead opting to sign a veteran journeyman such as Steven Johnson (currently a member of the Ravens after being released by Pittsburgh during camp) and going with a seventh-round pick such as Matakevich. That could be an indictment on Spence’s ability, or it could indicate that his asking price may have been more than the Steelers were willing (or able) to part with. (After all, a seventh-round pick or undrafted free agent come with a cheaper contract.)

As mentioned above, the glass half full with Spence assumes he can step in and play, having been with the team for a combined four years (with two of those rehabbing from his injury). That doesn’t in anyway assume he can play like Ryan Shazier or that he’ll be a defensive play-caller. In fact, he may not even be a starter, and furthermore, being out of football for the last two months, Spence may not be in tip-top shape to play an entire game.

That’s why I feel he could see spot duty with L.J. Fort, in a worst case scenario should Matakevich be unable to go on Sunday. We also shouldn’t expect Spence to be much of an improvement over Fort or “Dirty Red” as he’s more a run-stuffer akin to Lawrence Timmons than a linebacker who succeeds by dropping into coverage. If anything, Spence’s role will be shoring up the impact of losing Matakevich, and possibly Fort (due to filling in on defense) with the special teams unit. Danny Smith, the Steelers special teams coordinator, joined the team in 2013 and should have a good feel for fitting Spence into his gameplan if needed this Sunday night.

Therefore, while we can feel good about another “one of ours” coming home, expectations for Spence should be lowered to expecting mostly nothing. He’s a former situational player with the Steelers who saw some starts due to injuries with other players (ironically, such as Shazier). Spence also couldn’t stick with a Titans or Colts team desperate for defensive playmakers.

Therefore look at this signing as a stop-gap to see how the other linebackers may recover. Luckily (and unfortunately) the Steelers didn’t have to make any roster moves to add Spence, as JuJu Smith-Schuster was added to the Reserve/Suspended by Commissioner List this week. We’ll see how the team proceeds with Spence following Sunday night’s game against Baltimore.