6-foot-7 DT Isaiahh Loudermilk getting plenty of reps as edge OLB for Steelers

In finding answers for injuries and thin depth at outside linebacker, the Pittsburgh Steelers have resorted to some big solutions.

How about 6-foot-7, 293 pounds worth of one?

Third-year defensive tackle Isaiahh Loudermilk increasingly has been lining up at what the Steelers call outside linebacker during recent training camp practices.

“I love it,” Loudermilk said after Saturday’s practice at Saint Vincent. “It’s a lot different because I don’t have to worry about getting double-teamed when I am out there, things like that. I can just really line up and go. I don’t have to worry about a tackle coming down or a center coming to me. It’s really I can just kind of go off the edge, which does make it fun. It’s a little unnatural for me at times, but I like doing it.”

When the Steelers traded up to draft Loudermilk out of Wisconsin in 2021, he was strictly an interior player. According to Pro Football Focus, all but a tiny handful of his 404 career NFL regular-season snaps have come at defensive tackle or defensive end.

Loudermilk said while in college he never played outside of a “5 technique” (in a traditional 3-4, an end across from an opposing offensive tackle) on a defensive front. But last year, after the injury to T.J. Watt, he did work some at “edge” (outside linebacker) as needed. Loudermilk said those reps were mostly as a run-stopper, but this camp, he often has been rushing the passer.

“I am a taller, lengthy guy,” Loudermilk said, “so I feel like I kind of have some rushes on the edge that I can (execute) just because of my height.”

Loudermilk downplayed the bevy of reps he’d gotten at “edge” over recent days, explaining it as the Steelers having a dearth of options at the position because of injury or other lack of availability.

But he knows he’s adhering to the Mike Tomlin adage, “The more you can do.” And after his role and playing time diminished in Year 2 compared to his rookie season, Loudermilk’s bigger and more varied toolbox only can help him as he fights to stay on the roster and maintain a role of significance.

“I think they’re getting me out there to get those reps, get those pass rushes, because who knows?” Loudermilk said, referencing circumstances that can arise during the season. “It’s good for me to get that feel back out there.”

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