Only one rookie has had much of an impact thus far for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Well, perhaps that’s not entirely true, as others have made a couple of plays here and there. But there’s no doubt the most impactful rookie through the first four games has been second-round DL Keeanu Benton.
For the second year in a row, the team has had to call upon a high-pedigreed rookie in the trenches to step into a larger-than-anticipated role due to an early injury. Last year, it was DeMarvin Leal. Now it’s Benton, who has been impressing. And according to defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, he has all the tools—and conditioning—to continue to see a bigger role.
“I’ll say this first and foremost, he absolutely has the gas tank to do it”, he told reporters on Thursday, via transcript provided by the team’s media department, of a further expanded role in the defense. “That was one of the more impressive things watching him on college tape as a 300-plus-pounder where he would play over 80 percent of the snaps, and he played hard and he ran hard the entire time”.
A Wisconsin product, the Badgers primarily asked him to play a more traditional, old-school 3-4 defensive lineman role, but the Steelers have been excited about finding out what else he can do. He flashed his pass-rushing prowess during the pre-draft process, and we’re seeing that in spurts already. His sack against the Las Vegas Raiders was a thing of beauty.
“I don’t worry about his conditioning”, Austin insisted of the rookie, who has already played over 100 snaps, never under 20 in a game. “I think he’s obviously grown as a young player, and he’s gotten more snaps, and he’s gotten better as he’s gotten more snaps. I anticipate that’s his role growing as well”.
We did see a change on the depth chart this week, with Benton now listed as co-starter with Montravius Adams. In addition, we also began to see the Steelers used him as a defensive end in a 3-4 front with Adams at nose tackle. This always felt inevitable, but even this early is somewhat surprising. Then again, his talent is undeniable.
“I like him. He’s active. He’s strong. He really competes well. And he does, he’s just growing”, Austin assessed his rookie lineman. “I think he’s really getting better as a player. I think he’s got a high ceiling, as Mike likes to call it. We’ll see where it goes. But I really like what he’s been doing”.
A week after recording his first NFL sack, Benton had a career-high four tackles against the Houston Texans and added a forced fumble for good measure. A continued expansion of his role is inevitable. I think the only question is if we see that against the Baltimore Ravens or after the ensuing bye week.
