Shazier making calls, big plays for Steelers’ defense
Steelers inside linebacker Ryan Shazier had 31/2 sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception in his second season.
Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier finished the regular season with 87 tackles, second on the team to Lawrence Timmons.
PITTSBURGH – On one side of the line of scrimmage Sunday will be Peyton Manning calling the offensive plays for the Denver Broncos in an AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
On the other side, it will be second-year linebacker Ryan Shazier making the calls for the Steelers’ defense.
Advantage Denver?
It would seem that way as Manning, a future Hall of Fame quarterback who is in his 17th season, is considered the most cerebral player to ever put on a helmet.
The Steelers aren’t looking at it in that fashion.
They have trust in their 2014 first-round draft pick to get his teammates in the right positions and ready to go against the Broncos. After all, they’ve already seen him do it once, albeit with Brock Osweiller at quarterback for Denver instead of Manning, though not without some bumps in the road.
Shazier was late with some of his defensive calls in the first half of the Steelers’ 34-27 victory over the Broncos Dec. 20. And Denver took advantage, building a 27-10 first-half lead.
“We tried to prep our guys going into the game that it was going to be up-tempo and it was up-tempo, and we were a little bit late in the calls sometimes. Sometimes, we were not on the same page,” said Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler. “So, we got that straightened out and those guys ended up playing really well in the second half. We have to do the same thing in the first half of this ballgame.”
Those adjustments helped Pittsburgh shut out the Broncos in the second half. It was a big step in the learning process for Shazier.
“I learned that I’m going to have to get the calls in earlier,” Shazier said. “The last time, I got the calls in a little later and it put us in a bad position. I put that on me.”
Shazier took the defensive play-calling duties off fellow inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons earlier this season and the transition hasn’t always been a smooth one.
But he’s become more comfortable and said he’s become a more complete player.
“The coaching staff felt I’d be able to do it and still perform really well,” Shazier said. “I’m excited to do it. I didn’t feel like it was an extra weight on my shoulders or anything. It made me focus even more. I feel like it’s just helping me become a better player.”
The Steelers got a glimpse of that last weekend when Shazier wrecked Cincinnati’s season in an AFC Wildcard Playoff game.
Shazier recorded 13 tackles, two forced fumbles, two pass defenses and recovered a fumble in Pittsburgh’s 18-16 victory. He made plays in the backfield, at the line of scrimmage and deep downfield.
Most importantly, his forced fumble against Cincinnati running back Jeremy Hill with less than two minutes remaining in the game got the ball back for Pittsburgh’s offense, setting the stage for Chris Boswell’s game-winning field goal.
The next step for Shazier is producing back-to-back disruptive games.
“You can’t have a great game and disappear the next game,” Shazier said. “I think the biggest thing with us is that we want to be more consistent with everything.
“I think that’s the next step. When you have a good game, you have to back it up and make sure your teammates can depend on you. They want to see you do it week in and week out.”
That’s been something of a problem for Shazier.
The Steelers’ top pick in the 2014 draft, Shazier missed so many games in his first two seasons with head, ankle, knee and shoulder injuries that many people wondered if the 6-1, 230-pound linebacker was too small to be effective at inside linebacker in the NFL.
Shazier is more slight than the team’s other linebackers. When he stands next to the 250-pound Timmons, he looks more like Timmons’ little brother than he does his running mate.
But the two men who held down the inside linebacker positions for the Steelers, James Farrior and Larry Foote, both finished their careers playing at around 220 pounds. In today’s NFL, speed and coverage ability are valued as much as run-stopping ability at the inside linebacker position in a 3-4 defense, such as the one used by the Steeler.
Shazier, who ran a 4.36-second 40-yard dash at his on-campus pre-draft workout at Ohio State, has all of those attributes.
“He’s got all the talent. A lot of times, it takes a little while to learn the system and do what he’s supposed to do in the framework of the defense,” said Butler. “And sometimes, he’s playing by the seat of his pants. He’s starting to cut that down and he’s starting to do what he’s supposed to do. He’s doing a pretty good job.”
Staying on the field has been an issue. Shazier missed seven games as a rookie and sat out four more games this season.
Those issues have slowed his progress.
“When he misses time with an injury, it slows that development,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “When he’s available to us, he fluidly goes through the process. … The thing for him, and some of it is outside of his control, is to continue to do everything in his power to remain injury-free, practice and take snaps.”
Despite missing four games with a shoulder injury suffered during a career-high 15-tackle effort against San Francisco in Week 2, Shazier finished the regular season with 87 tackles, second on the team to Timmons. He also contributed 3 1/2 sacks, a pair of forced fumbles and an interception in a solid second season.
And the 23-year-old is only getting better.
“It’s still a learning process,” Shazier admitted. “From the beginning of the year until now, it’s a big difference.”
But is he ready to match wits with Manning, who was already playing his first NFL game when Shazier was six years old?
A student of the game, Shazier knows the history of great Steelers linebackers, just as he knows all about Manning.
“My dad is a Steelers fan, so I’ve known about those guys for a long time,” said Shazier after ticking off a long list of the great Steelers linebackers.
“Any time you’re a linebacker and you want to be good at your craft, you’re going to know about Jack Lambert and Jack Ham and those guys.”