As Jonathan Heitritter accurately pointed out during the week, the Pittsburgh Steelers can’t use rookie NT Keeanu Benton like they did with Stephon Tuitt in 2014. Which is to say, not use him. Tuitt was stuck on the bench as part of the Steelers’ model of making rookies sit and wait their turn. But it came at the expense of the team, Tuitt clearly the better player than Cam Thomas, and it wasn’t until late in the season that Pittsburgh realized that obvious calculation.
The good news is that shouldn’t be a problem for Benton this season. Pittsburgh’s changed their rookie model and first-year players see the field right away. Given the need at nose tackle and Benton’s skillset, he should see immediate playing time and probably start right away.
Assuming he does, Benton will have a chance to do something no Steelers’ rookie defensive lineman has done in decades. His goal should be 2.5 sacks and if he hits it, it’ll be the most by one since 1990.
There hasn’t been a great track record of productive rookie defensive linemen in Pittsburgh because of that old model – rookie sitting behind the vets. Happened with Tuitt, happened with Cam Heyward for his first two seasons. And Pittsburgh hasn’t drafted many of them high in recent years. Javon Hargrave is the most recent example, who picked up two sacks his rookie year.
Since 2000, no rookie Steelers’ defensive lineman had more than two sacks in their first season. And it wasn’t Tuitt or Heyward, who each had one. That goes to Hargrave and Rodney Bailey, who picked up a pair in 2001. That’s why 2.5 is Benton’s goal. Breaking through that and he’ll have the most sacks by a rookie since Kenny Davidson in 1990, who wrapped up his first year with 3.5. And in fairness, Davidson was an undersized defensive end, not an interior plugger like Benton is expected to be.
Since 1990, here are the Steelers’ first-year defensive linemen with multiple sacks in Year One.
Most Sacks By A Rookie Steelers’ DL (1990-2022)
1. Kenny Davidson – 3.5 (1990)
2. Javon Hargrave – 2.0 (2016)
3. Rodney Bailey – 2.0 (2001)
3. Brenston Buckner – 2.0 (1994)
3. Garry Howe – 2.0 (1992)
The point is, Benton has a chance to be one of the most productive rookie defensive linemen Pittsburgh’s had in a while. Hargrave was impactful, even if the stats didn’t show, but Benton can match that.
Can he reach 2.5 sacks? While he’s athletic and a better pass rusher than given credit for, it’s still no guarantee. He’ll only have a limited number of pass rush snaps in general, probably a couple hundred, and it’s harder to get those sacks in your base defense than sub-packages, where there’s usually more chances to rush. For example, only two of the twelve snaps in which Heyward registered a sack last year came in Pittsburgh’s base defense. Ten of them came in sub-package, nickel or dime.
My NFL comp to Benton was Dalvin Tomlinson, who has hovered around 2.5 to 3.5 sacks throughout his last several seasons. So Benton should be right on that line. Sometimes, there’s a bit of luck when it comes to sacks, and it’s not the end-all number. It doesn’t solely define how good a season a player has. But it would be a nice factoid for our stats of the weird and of course, if Benton can end 2023 with 2.5-3 sacks, it probably means he was a positive contributor to the Steelers’ defensive efforts.
