It only took him 11 seasons and two teams, but Tyson Alualu is breaking out — and at the (NFL) ripe age of 33.
And the Steelers are all the better for it.
After Javon Hargrave headed to Philadelphia via free agency, no doubt it was risky to roll without replacing him with an outside veteran. Turns out, that veteran was already in-house.
Through three weeks, Alualu, who has eight tackles and a sack, is the second-leading interior defensive lineman in pass rush win rate.
A 10th-overall selection in the 2010 NFL Draft, Alualu never thrived with the Jacksonville Jaguars. In Pittsburgh, he’s finally playing like the first-round talent he was tabbed as.
As great teammates do, Alualu is crediting his fellow linemen for new-found success.
“Every week we look to do better and get better. I think I am fitting in well,” Alualu said in a recent press conference. “Just having the guys we have on our defense makes it a lot better for me. Whether it’s T.J. [Watt] or Bud [Dupree] coming off the edge, or Cam [Heyward] or [Stephon] Tuitt pushing up the middle, I think teams have to game plan around those guys and it makes it that much easier for me to go out and do my job. That is my focus and what I try to get done.”
The question remains, is Alualu part of Pittsburgh’s plans beyond 2020? The lineman is one of 18 Steelers who will become free agents in March. According to OvertheCap.com, his current salary cap charge is $3.625 million.
