PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II reiterated what new defensive coordinator Keith Butler told the team’s website last week: the defense won’t fundamentally change even though the Steelers and Dick LeBeau have parted ways.
The Steelers will continue with the 3-4 as their base defense and the emphasis will remain on stopping the run and getting after the quarterback.
“I am not sure I see anything dramatic other than to acknowledge that the game is changing,” Rooney said in regard to Butler succeeding LeBeau. “Keeping up with offenses these days is a real challenge. But I think Keith is very knowledgeable and has been around a long time. He has seen a lot of defensive football in his days. We are excited to have him as our defensive coordinator.”
Butler will run the Steelers’ defense after coaching the team’s linebackers since 2003. His challenge isn’t just following LeBeau, one of the great defensive minds in NFL history.
It is also getting more big plays out of a defense that managed just 33 sacks in 2014 and had 21 takeaways.
Only six NFL teams had fewer sacks than the Steelers in 2014.
“We need to be able to pressure the quarterback more consistently,” Rooney said. “Some of the games that we were successful in this season, I think we were able to do that. I think that’s the key to stopping these high-powered offenses. You have to be able to pressure the quarterback. We need to create some more turnovers [too], those kinds of things.”
The Steelers have to get more out of their outside linebackers next season and that position is fraught with uncertainty.
Jarvis Jones, the Steelers’ first-round pick in 2013, is the only outside linebacker on the roster with NFL experience who is signed beyond 2014. And he has just three career sacks though Jones essentially lost this season after dislocating his right wrist in the third game.
Jason Worilds, who has 15.5 sacks in the past two seasons, will be an unrestricted free agent if the Steelers don’t sign or tag the fifth-year veteran before March 10.
The Steelers paid Worilds $9.754 million in 2014 after using the transition tag on the 2010 second-round pick. They have the option of tagging him again though the Steelers would like to sign Worilds to a multi-year contract that would be more cap friendly than the deal he had in 2014.
“We would like to keep Jason,” Rooney said. “He had a good year. Like anything else, if the two sides can come to an agreement on a contract we would like to keep him.”
