Does Re-Signing Robert Spillane Make Sense for Steelers?

Now entering his sixth year as a pro, Robert Spillane is slated to hit free agency, coming off his best season to date with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It's rare to see an undrafted free agent become such a polarizing figure within a fan base, and there's no doubt that Spillane generates a lot of conversation on social media. Just days before the new league year is set to begin, I thought it would be worthwhile to lay out if a return to the steel city makes sense for both parties involved.

In 2022, Spillane logged 588 snaps on defense which was a career-high, and by the end of the season, he was seeing more playing time than everyone at his position.

Last offseason, the Steelers brought in Brian Flores as an assistant coach to help out with the linebackers, and many thought that he could somehow resurrect Devin Bush's career. Pittsburgh inked Myles Jack to a 2-year, $16 million dollar contract shortly afterward, leading everyone to believe that he was the ILB1 who would play all three downs and never leave the field.

Despite those investments in more heralded players, it was Spillane who found himself on the field on every down as the season wore on.

The fan base definitely chose him as a scapegoat for some of the Steelers' struggles at times last season. But if you take a look at the numbers, some of that criticism seems a tad unwarranted, at least in comparison with his peers on the team. It's no secret that Spillane's best work as a player is done against the run, and when you compare his numbers against the other Steelers' off-ball linebackers, it's hard to argue that he didn't exceed expectations when you factor in his contract.

Using the Pro Football Focus database, here are the how the Steelers' inside linebackers' numbers against the run last season:

Myles Jack:
303 snaps
6.0 stop %
5.9 missed tackle %
4.2 average depth per tackle

Devin Bush:
304 snaps
6.7 stop %
3.6 missed tackle %
3.9 average depth per tackle

Robert Spillane:
197 snaps
6.7 stop %
2.9 missed tackle %
3.3 average depth per tackle

It's really not a stretch at all to say that Spillane was the best of this group against the run last season, which in part, is one of the reasons that he began to play over Devin Bush as the season drew to a close. Pittsburgh's defense was better against the run when Spillane was on the field, giving up 4.3 yards per carry compared to 4.9 yards per carry when he was on the sidelines, according to Sports Info Solutions.

Sure, on/off splits aren't a perfect metric, and every statistic needs context added, but there's a good bit of evidence here that he was better than some realize or are willing to admit.

Spillane was very good against the run yesterday. Whether it was film study or just instincts, he was reading plays before they were happening. pic.twitter.com/ehrCKxsVcV
— Derrick (@Steelers_DB) November 15, 2022

But Spillane isn't a perfect player, as he certainly has some deficiencies in his game, most of which stem from his lack of overall athleticism. His pedestrian at best pro day numbers tell the story there; a 4.77 40-yard dash and underwhelming explosive and agility numbers exist.

These flaws show up in space, particularly in coverage, which just so happens to be how the Steelers coaching staff chooses to deploy him in their nickel and dime sub-packages.

Last season, Spillane was targeted 50 times, allowing 42 catches for 491 yards and three touchdown passes, according to PFF. Opposing NFL quarterbacks had a whopping 127.6 passer rating when targeting him in coverage, but the Steelers kept on trotting him out there anyways.

The reason for that is a little unclear, but Mike Tomlin has been audibly supportive of him in pressers in the past and has even referenced his coverage ability in a positive light.

Sometimes defensive coaches can get too cute and I think this is an example of that. Attempting to disguise the coverage, Pittsburgh is asking Robert Spillane to show blitz in the opposite backside B gap before becoming the pole runner in tampa 2.

He has no shot here whatsoever. pic.twitter.com/WoJ15u0z1M
— Derrick (@Steelers_DB) October 18, 2022

You can coach a player up all you want, but you really can't make someone a significantly better athlete in space, and it's fair to say that the coaching staff was requiring him to perform tasks that he simply isn't capable of doing.

Spillane isn't the guy you want covering running backs running choice routes out of the backfield, and he's not the player that you want running with tight ends up the seam or on wheel routes either. He's a run-defending off-ball linebacker who is masquerading around as a dime backer due to doctor's orders.

Despite his limitations, I think there's a path to Spillane being a useful asset for the Steelers moving forward on defense, but the way that he's deployed certainly matters here.

With Myles Jack and Mark Robinson the only players in the room that are under contract for next season, there's not really a ton of competition for snaps at the moment. Even Jack, one of the more splashy free agent signings in recent seasons, is coming off of back-to-back down seasons and boasts a massive $11.25 million dollar cap hit for 2023 making his future a bit murky.

In a loaded free agency class, Spillane isn't going to break the bank. A modest raise from his $2.43 million dollar base salary in 2022, on a 1-2 year deal, and it's hard to imagine him balking at the idea of a return. This also doesn't mean that he necessarily has to be penciled in as the starter, either. Pittsburgh has been doing their homework on the draft class despite it being a weaker group overall for the position. They could even add one of the mid-tier free agent linebackers to come in and start from day one.

Ideally, for 2023, Spillane is solid depth behind two more established, athletically gifted, and versatile players. He's a replacement-level player who probably deserves more credit for how well he stopped the run last season, and while the criticisms of him in coverage are certainly fair, the better question is: why was the coaching staff continuing to put him out there in those situations?

You have to wonder if their self-scouting is off in this instance, or maybe it's that they just didn't trust Myles Jack in coverage anymore either, which is obviously worrisome for a player with his sort of contract.

Whatever the reason, I fully expect Spillane to make his way back to the Steelers on a cheap, cost-controlled contract during the early days of free agency. This will surely cause an uproar, but I don't think that this move alone means that Pittsburgh will run it back with the same cast of characters next season.

Spillane is likely part of the puzzle, but there's a bigger piece coming, whether that's through free agency or from the NFL Draft pool.

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