Most NFL draft pundits have inside linebacker as one of the top needs for the Pittsburgh Steelers. There’s no doubt Pittsburgh has yet to fill the void left by Ryan Shazier after his injury. An area of Shazier’s game the Steelers can’t quite replicate with the current roster is his speed. But the player who comes the closest is L.J. Fort. Now he’s an unrestricted free agent and we have to decide if his speed is enough to get him a new contract.
The case to keep-Fort become much more than a special teams player in 2018. Pittsburgh chose to utilize his speed in sub packages over guys like Jon Bostic and Vince Williams on the inside. Fort ended up playing almost 30 percent of the total defensive snaps and finished the season with 48 tackles and earned two starts. His contract wouldn’t be excessive and if he plays even more in 2019 would be a bargain.
The case to pass-Fort probably won’t earn much attention on the free-agent market but if he is in a position to earn starter money somewhere else, Pittsburgh won’t have a shot at keeping him. No one is calling Fort a 16-game starter and if the Steelers are serious about upgrading the athleticism on the inside, they could choose to let Fort at least test free agency while they pursue a player in the draft.
What would we do?
We would certainly make a fair offer to Fort to keep him on the team. He’s not going to break the bank and really looks to be coming into his own as he enters his fifth season. Locking Fort down to go with Williams, Bostic and Tyler Matakevich should solidify the inside linebacker depth chart and let Pittsburgh look elsewhere in the draft.
