Steve

McLendon

35-year-old McLendon was acquired from the Jets last season and has been soaking up 350-500 snaps at the nose tackle spot for years. He and DC Todd Bowles go back to their time together with the Jets. McLendon has 153 career appearances as an immovable inside presence.

White and McLendon missed Tampa’s Week 17 game against the Falcons and their Wild Card matchup against Washington. They’ll be back for the team’s Divisional Round contest against the Saints. White has been a key player in Tampa’s defense this season, totaling 140 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, and nine sacks on the year.

It’s another ominous development for the Bucs, with McLendon joining Devin White and Shaq Barrett on the reserve list. All three will miss Week 17, while White, who is COVID positive himself, will miss the Wild Card Round. For now, Barrett is merely a “close contact.” McLendon’s status is unknown, but close contact is a good guess. Acquired from the Jets at the deadline, McLendon helped solidify the Bucs’ post-Vita Vea run defense.

Initially signing McLendon in 2016 was arguably one of the few positive transactions former GM Mike Maccagnan made during his tenure with the organization. The run-stuffing 34-year-old has started 58 games across 64 appearances with the Jets in that span, including five starts for the disheveled team this year. The Bucs are simply looking to replace Vita Vea (broken leg) for the rest of the season.

McLendon does not offer much as a pass rusher, but he is one of the better run stuffing interior linemen in the league. That should continue to be his role in 2019.

With Rashard Mendenhall’s 2012 season in doubt, Redman sits atop the depth chart at tailback and could be in line for a heavy workload. Kapinos returns as the team’s punter. McLendon will play second-fiddle to Casey Hampton.

Whether or not Hampton takes a pay cut to return, the Steelers are in need of a nose tackle with Chris Hoke hanging up the spikes. The team has had internal discussions about moving disappointing LE Ziggy Hood to the nose this offseason. The good news is undersized Steve McLendon played well as a fill-in down the stretch.

Hampton will be 35 next month and is in the final year of his contract. His knee is also no lock to be ready for Week 1. The Steelers have protected themselves at the nose tackle spot by developing Steve McLendon and drafting Alameda Ta’amu.

McLendon weighed 280 as a junior at Troy, and is 325 pounds today. The latter weight makes a lot more sense for a 3-4 nose. A former undrafted free agent, McLendon has practiced and played well enough that he’s the favorite to open the season as Pittsburgh’s starting nose tackle. Casey Hampton will rotate in on obvious running downs. Alameda Ta’amu will likely be a weekly scratch.

McLendon was running as a starter before Casey Hampton (ACL surgery) was activated from the camp/PUP list, and beat writer Ed Bouchette believes he could hold the job heading into the regular season. A former undrafted free agent, McLendon appeared in 14 games in 2011, making 13 tackles and one sack.