It is arguably the most common criticism of Pittsburgh Steelers’ left tackle Kelvin Beachum. Too short. Not long enough. Lacks the power to be an offensive tackle. It’s followed him since coming out of the NFL and undoubtedly was a factor in why he dropped to the seventh round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
“I happened to see someone send me something yesterday and they showed me what scouts said when I came out. You know, soft, patty-cake type of offensive lineman. You hear those things and see those things, you realize that’s not who you are…That’s somebodies opinion, and then you go out and prove them wrong. Everyday is a chance to prove somebody wrong. I enjoy that, I embrace that…I relish the fact of being different, the fact of being unique,” he told 93.7 The Fan’s Morning show back in May.
I always like to use this opportunity to point out Beachum’s 33 1/4 arms are better than the likes of Joe Thomas and Jake Long and right in line with the recently retired Michael Roos, a staple on the Tennessee Titans’ blindside for so many years.
In the interview, Beachum stressed how vital offensive line coach Mike Munchak has been to the organization.
“He knows what buttons to push, he knows how to get what he needs out of each individual player. And I think that’s what makes Coach Munchak one of the best in the league. He’s not one of those people that will put you into a box and tries to make cookie-cutters out of every single offensive lineman.”
Munchak should be in part, credited with producing Ben Roethlisberger’s lowest sack percentage of his entire career in 2014, 5.1%. It was refreshing to see him incorporate, and sometimes dominate, with power schemes instead of the zone blocking he was lauded for.
This is a far cry from from Beachum’s “cool” and “funny” assessment of former OL coach Jack Bicknell Jr.
On the feel good spectrum, it’s always nice to hear player’s come out and recognize Steelers’ nation. Beachum did just that.
“You realize how great a fan base we really do have [playing on the road]. You realize how good we have it to go into another stadium and we don’t have to use a silent count, the hometown has to use a silent count. That’s a great feeling to go into another stadium and be able to hear our quarterback because our fans are controlling the crowd.”
As always, Beachum comes of as a well-spoken, mild-mannered individual. Whenever his football career is done, and hopefully that isn’t for quite some time, he would have a bright future as on-air talent.
