Entering his second NFL season, the role and overall fit of defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal with the Pittsburgh Steelers remains a bit unclear. Is he an edge? Will he be a true 3-4 defensive end? Is he a sub-package only guy?
Those questions and overall concerns didn’t stop NFL Network’s Adam Rank from tabbing Leal as the Steelers’ breakout player for 2023 on a rather loaded defense under head coach Mike Tomlin and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.
“A third-round pick in 2022, Leal’s rookie season was limited to 11 games due to injury, but the versatile defensive lineman flashed some intriguing potential,” Rank writes. “The Steelers re-signed Larry Ogunjobi and drafted Keeanu Benton in the second round, but it won’t surprise me if Leal emerges as a more impactful force on the defensive interior by midseason.”
Landing with the Steelers after impressive defensive line coach Karl Dunbar at his Pro Day, Leal didn’t quite have that clear-cut fit in Pittsburgh’s 3-4 defense. He was — and remains — a ‘tweener overall, which caused him to move around quite a bit from the defensive line, edge, off-ball linebacker and more in his first year.
That constant change and not having a clear, defined role and home position-wise led to some struggles and disappointment for Leal, who didn’t record a sack in his rookie season and had just 14 tackles in 11 games and 175 defensive snaps.
If Leal is going to be that “more impactful force” defensively on the interior by midseason, he better improve as a pass rusher for the Steelers — and do so in a hurry.
He certainly has the athleticism and a motor that runs hot, giving him the all-important want-to, but entering Year 2 Leal lacks a go-to pass rush move and was unproductive in that role, which was a bit of a disappointment in his rookie season. Based on the charting done here at Steelers Depot, Leal registered just two pressures all season, one per every 46 rushes, a terrible number that must improve in 2023. There’s still always been questions about his run defense, too, making for a challenging second season ahead.
For that breakout to occur in 2023, as Rank believes, there has to be a clearcut role for Leal. At this time, there doesn’t appear to be one, outside of being that moveable defensive piece for the Steelers.
Tomlin said earlier this offseason that there was “no definitive structure” to how Leal would be used, remarks made shortly before the draft. It’s unclear how the selection of Keeanu Benton in the second round might affect that structure for Pittsburgh, though Benton will start out at nose tackle.
It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if Leal ends up carving out a career for himself as a somewhat positionless super-sub who jumps in and contributes in a variety of different spots. That’s not even any kind of knock relative to his perceived value as a former third-round selection. But right now, it’s the best thing the Steelers can manage for him, and he can manage for himself.
But that might be hard to project a breakout season when it comes to being a super-sub type player who lines up all over and doesn’t have a clear, set role defensively.
