Pittsburgh Steelers: 3 Standouts from Preseason Week 2

2. Matthew Thomas

There’s no question that the Ryan Shazier injury is a bit bigger than football. With every step in the inside linebacker’s recovery, it’s about watching a young man get his livelihood back, and it’s truly inspirational to see as he keeps making strides toward that.

From a pure on-the-field perspective though, Shazier’s injury puts this team in a tough spot as it pertains to the inside linebacker position. Currently, it looks as if some combination of Vince Williams and either Jon Bostic, Tyler Matakevich or LJ Fort will be the starters. That’s not exactly a duo that you can feel confident in. Subsequently, there is a great need for more depth at that position with Shazier out, and Matthew Thomas is making a case that he can provide that.

Thomas went undrafted coming out of Florida State after dealing with a litany of off-field issues throughout his time with the Seminoles. In the first week of the preseason, he certainly looked like a raw rookie at times as he made mistakes in every facet of the game. However, he’s seemingly picking up the pro game at a high rater if the Packers game is any indication.

While Thomas finished with only three tackles on the night, the film showed much more than that. The linebacker was virtually mistake-free throughout the night as he was a sure and hard tackler in the run game and performed well when he was asked to drop back in coverage.

This isn’t to say that Thomas has now made himself a starter. However, if he can continue to impress and progress, he’s a player that could help quell some concerns about depth at the position heading into the regular season.