How does a football team replace a legend? Some do it well, like the Green Bay Packers inserting Aaron Rodgers to replace Brett Favre. Others do it not as well, such as the Dallas Cowboys inserting Troy Hambrick after Emmitt Smith left the team. The Steelers are facing a similar situation this season. For the first time in over a decade, the secondary of the Pittsburgh Steelers will not feature Troy Polamalu as the starting strong safety.

With eight pro bowls, five All-Pro teams, a Defensive Player of the Year Award, and a spot on the 2000s All-Decade Team, it will be hard find a player that can come close to equaling his product. Partnering at the position with veteran Will Allen is Shamarko Thomas, who has a total of 34 tackles in his career. After two seasons in the NFL, Thomas now has to take a much larger role on the defensive side of the football.

Allen has reached his peak in the NFL and is dropping in all of his abilities at this point of his career. On the other hand, any skill that Thomas has will be illustrated this season. The Pittsburgh secondary is the weakest part of their team and there will be a lot of plays that will see five and six defensive backs on the field.

It’s hard to talk about Thomas because of how little he played over his first two seasons. Polamalu and Allen were the two strong safeties that got virtually all the snaps. To his credit, he has been complemented for his leadership ability on and off the field. He cared for his five younger siblings after losing his parents in one year. He certain plays a Polamalu-like game, staying close to the line with the linebackers and skilled at the safety blitz.

This season, Thomas has to improve his pass defense. He has been called a “safety/linebacker hybrid.” That works in his favor at the line, but not in the secondary. Pittsburgh finished 27th in the league in passing out of 32 teams. For a strong safety who is projected to get a lot of playing time, to be a liability on the pass defense will not help the team’s defensive problems at all.

Daniel Johnson is a Beat Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter. Like him on Facebook. Add him to your network on Google.