What Can Tyler Matakevich Bring to Steelers Special Teams?
What can Tyler Matakevich bring to the new-look Pittsburgh Steelers special teams units?
The archetype of the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker/special teams ace is a strong one, with a long history.
Players like John Fiala (special teams captain 1999-2002, Clint Kreiwaldt (2004 & 2007) and Keyaron Fox (2009-10) may have been listed as linebacker, and worn linebacker jersey numbers, but their primary role was always on special teams.
The Steelers will return two-time special teams captain Miles Killebrew, who was a first-time All-Pro in 2023, so the captain position is probably closed. But there is more need for kick-covering linebackers than ever with new NFL rules set to be implemented in 2024.
The change to the kickoff is most dramatic. Instead of coverage players needing to run 40 yards down field before encountering an opponent, they’ll now be placed just 10 yards apart. Instead of kickoff coverage units consistently consisting of wide receivers and cornerbacks, linebackers seem to be expected to pick up a lot of the slack.
So Matakevich’s depth of experience as a quality special teamer, to go along with Killebrew and the like of Nick Herbig, Payton Wilson, Mark Robinson and Jeremiah Moon gives the Steelers a number of options to help figure out the best way to tackle this new kick return problem.
Tyler Matakevich, Linebacker, Temple
6-foot-1, 235 pounds, 31 years old, 9th Season
Acquired: The Steelers signed Tyler Matakevich to a one-year contract on July 17, 2024.
Last Season: Matakevich played in 17 games for the Buffalo Bills as their special teams captain. He made no starts, and only played 16 snaps on defense, while appearing in 343 snaps of special teams — 80% of Buffalo’s third phase snaps. He finished the season with just seven tackles.
Career: A seventh-round pick of the Steelers in the 2016 NFL Draft, Tyler Matakevich has been a consistent special teams performer since his first days in the NFL. He appeared in 270 Steelers special teams snaps as a rookie, and has only gone up from here, crossing the 300-snap threshold in 2018 and never looking back.
He’s never developed into much of a defender, though. Matakevich played a career high of 72 defensive snaps in 2020, and while he’s been a frequent special teams contributor, he hasn’t been an especially prolific collector of tackles. His career high between defense and special teams is 23, set in 2017 in Pittsburgh and tied in 2020 in Buffalo. According to PFF, the most special teams tackles he ever had in a season was 13 in 2020. Matakevich had 10 in each of the last two seasons.
After his rookie contract expired in 2019, Matakevich signed in Buffalo for 2020, and then re-upped twice more for a four-year run with the Bills.
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FFs | PFF ST Rating |
| 2016 | PIT | 16 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74.5 |
| 2017 | PIT | 15 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85.8 |
| 2018 | PIT | 16 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52.2 |
| 2019 | PIT | 16 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79.8 |
| 2020 | BUF | 16 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75.2 |
| 2021 | BUF | 17 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 77.7 |
| 2022 | BUF | 16 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60.3 |
| 2023 | BUF | 17 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68.6 |
College: A two-star recruit out of Milford Academy in New Berlin, New York, Tyler Matakevich committed to Temple in January 2012, with Akron as his only other reported offer.
Despite that humbly entry, Matakevich made an impact right away with the Owls. He started and starred on special teams, becoming the first freshman in program history to lead the team in tackles. In 2013, he led the entire NCAA in tackles per game, and the following season, he became a team captain for the first time.
As a senior in 2015, Matakevich pulled out all the stops. In Week 4, he became the seventh player in NCAA history to record 100 tackles in four straight seasons. He was also the only player in the country to lead his team in tackles in every single game.
Matakevich finished as Temple’s all-time leading tackler with 493, and was the first Owls All-American defender. He won the Bednarik Award and Nagurski Trophy as the country’s best defensive player.
| Year | GP | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | INTs | PBUs | FFs | FRs |
| 2012 | 0 | 101 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 2013 | 7 | 137 | 11.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 2014 | 10 | 117 | 10.5 | 1.5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | 13 | 138 | 15.0 | 4.5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
Salary cap and future: The Steelers signed Tyler Matakevich to a one-year contract. If he makes the 53-man roster this year, Matakevich will cost $985,000 against the team’s cap space and he will earn $1.2 million in salary.
None of his salary is guaranteed, and the Steelers can release or trade him without penalty. He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in 2025.
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