Welcome to the terrible take many podcasts telling Steelers Nation what's on our mind.

I'm Josh Carney.

Not since the days of Ryan Chazir have the Pittsburgh Steelers had that true game-changing inside linebacker, that true chess piece.

In recent years they've tried to find answers there, trading up in the 2019 NFL draft

to select Devon Bush, later signing the names of Miles Jack

Cole-Hocomb, Kwan Alexander and a Landon Robertson free agency. But entering this

off season the Steelers still don't have that answer at the position.

One answer could be in the 2024 NFL draft, that being Texas A&M linebacker Edgren Cooper.

Cooper has good size, great athleticism, and rather impressive traits overall.

He's an explosive athlete, one that will likely test off the charts at the 2024 NFL

scouting combine in Indianapolis.

The Steelers are reportedly very interest in the linebacker, as I reported for Steelers Depot from the

East West Shrine Bull in Dallas just a few weeks ago.

Yet despite that clear interest in Cooper and there being a very clear need at the position with Alexander coming off a

toward Achilles and set the hit-free agency and Holcomb's timeline recovering

from a very serious knee injury, there's quite a bit of hand wringing about a

potential drafting of a linebacker in the first round or even the second round for the

Steelers.

Positional value comes up quite a bit in that discussion and it's a fair argument.

Linebacker isn't as valuable as cornerback or edge-rusher defensively. But the great defenses that were still around late in the season

have a high-level off-ball linebacker

that plays all three downs and makes game-changing plays

...