Steelers 5th Round Pick Isaiahh Loudermilk on Cam Heyward: “I Couldn’t Ask for a Better Mentor”

[Steeler Nation]

There are not many fans within all of Steeler Nation that would consider last season to be a success. Yes, the 2021 Pittsburgh Steelers did squeeze into the playoffs by just the smallest of margins, but the team did fall short of accomplishing what the organization’s expectations have been going into each season; to win a championship. Now, to be fair, many obstacles did derail them from accomplishing that final goal, but in what was future Hall of Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s final season, it was fair to expect a little more.

Obstacles for the Steelers​

Those “obstacles” stated before were more on the defensive side of the football. Obviously, we know that Stephon Tuitt had been sidelined for all of 2021 with a personal matter, leaving the Steelers with a hole in their defensive line going into last season. That spot was filled by Tyson Alualu, just for him to suffer a broken ankle in Week 2 against the Las Vegas Raiders that would keep him out the rest of 2021. What once had been a huge strength of the Steelers tradition (defensive line), had been weakened and the Steelers needed a plan to “replace” their talents.

One of the guys who stepped in in others’ absence was rookie defensive tackle Isaiahh Loudermilk. Loudermilk, whom the Steelers moved up in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft to select, played in 15 games last season with two starts. He finished the year with 23 tackles, 16 of them solo hits, three passes defended and a lone sack in his rookie season. Although the workload was shared between himself and Chris Wormley for the majority of the year, Loudermilk did everything he needed to do to show he belonged on the field each Sunday.

“Everything kind of happened, injuries and stuff like that, so I kind of got thrown out there. I was prepared for pretty much anything. I wouldn’t say I was really expecting to get as much as I did, but I’m glad I did. I feel like I grew a lot as a player, actually being able to go out there and play.”​

Steelers defensive lineman, Isaiahh Loudermilk (#92) | Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO


Loudermilk did acknowledge the leadership he received from many of the guys on the team, and knows he wouldn’t have been successful without making a specific Steelers star proud. Early on in his career, he was lucky enough to be paired with the Steelers defensive team captain Cam Heyward, who essentially took the rookie fifth round pick under his wing, hoping to get the best out of the rookie as quickly as possible.

“He pretty much showed me anything he could. Anytime we were doing drills, we would work together. He would give me little pointers, hand placement and stuff like that. I think that’s one of the big reasons why I felt like I made a pretty big jump from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. Just week in and week out taking little things from him. Watching how he does things and feeding off him. I couldn’t ask for a better mentor than Cam.”​

Although Tuitt and Alualu are expected back in 2022, it is safe to say that those two will split the majority of the playing time at their given positions. In my opinion, from the small sample size that Loudermilk was able to produce in 2021, he showed the organization that he belongs on this team and could possibly be a key part of this defense in the future.



WATCH FULL INTERVIEW HERE:

https://www.steelers.com/news/rookie-recap-isaiahh-loudermilk



Do you think Loudermilk can continue to progress into a future NFL starter? Comment below!

#SteelerNation

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[slashsteel]

Nice watch ! Almost thought the Nation did the interview, I almost fell off the sofa.

 

[SteelBuckeye]

Nice watch ! Almost thought the Nation did the interview, I almost fell off the sofa.

First thing Cam said to Loudermilk as his mentor: "No interviews with Steeler Nation. None."

 

[SteelerSask2]

Guys drafted last year will do more but not sure many or any will make a bigger jump. I think he is gonna be a long term starter.

 

[SteelerInLebanon]

The pick and move up had many scratching their heads. Seems they knew what they were doing.

 

[Drink IRON City]

Louderilk was a very plesant player. He showed prowless in a positive way and Cam is Cam, I would expent nothing less out of Cam and his mentorship.

I hope the STEELERS aren't going into this upcoming season expecting Tuitt & Alualu to be the answers from last year debicle. They need to invest a heavy pick(s) on DL who can be an impact this season.

They need to treat them as depth until otherwise proven and would be foolish to think otherwise.




Salute the nation

 

[Coach]

I appreacite Cam being the mentor. The way things are with Alualu's age and Tuitt being a ???, he's going to be a key man for the future.

Isaiahh Loudermilk Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats for Isaiahh Loudermilk. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, college, draft, and more on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

 

[slashsteel]

Oh **** I just read cooch's title. I can't breathe.