In just two days, the Pittsburgh Steelers will hit Chuck Noll Field at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe to kickstart another edition of training camp.
The 2023 Steelers will look vastly different from the version that hit the field last summer, and for good reason. Pittsburgh went 9-8 last season and missed the playoffs and entering Year Two of the Omar Khan tenure as GM, the Steelers needed some roster changes.
The busiest offseason in Steelers history commenced rather quickly in free agency and then with the 2023 NFL Draft. In Latrobe, all eyes will be on the new additions on both sides of the football, as well as on second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett to see if he can begin to take that second-year leap.
But what about some of the more overlooked players on the roster with much to prove ? Glad you asked.
Below are my five most intriguing Steelers defensive players ahead of training camp.
1. ARMON WATTS, DL
If you listened to a recent episode of The Terrible Podcast, I stated to Dave Bryan and Jonathan Heitritter that Armon Watts is the defensive piece I’m most intrigued by entering training camp, outside of the big names. Watts comes to the Steelers with a ton of NFL experience with more than 1,700 snaps with the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears.
While he’s not going to push Larry Ogunjobi or Cameron Heyward for a starting role, I am curious to see what the plan is for Watts this season. He has the size and strength to play nose tackle and 3-4 defensive end and has the explosiveness and some pass-rush chops to provide the Steelers with some passing down snaps as a 4i in passing situations.
Quietly, Watts was a later-free agency add, but he might end up being a valuable one on a rebuilt defensive line that needs a boost in the youth department. At just 27 years old, Watts could provide that and be a valuable rotational piece behind Heyward and Ogunjobi while helping a guy like rookie Keeanu Benton develop in the NFL.
2. MARK ROBINSON, ILB
This feels like an easy one and maybe there’s a case for him not being included here since this is about the overlooked and underrated players I’m most intrigued by in camp. But I can’t move away from Mark Robinson, considering the Steelers have a massive hole at inside linebacker — at least from a depth perspective.
Robinson showed flashes late in the 2022 season when given an opportunity defensively, but it’s important to remember he played less than 50 defensive snaps. That said, he brings an element to the position that the Steelers sorely need, that being a hard-hitting presence and intriguing athleticism overall.
At times in his defensive stint late last season, he looked overwhelmed when not flying downhill. I want to see how he looks entering Year Two in the NFL, especially with another year under his belt at the position and now fully up to speed in the defensive scheme. He might not be competing for a starter’s role in 2023 behind veteran free agent addition Elandon Roberts, but it’s a big year for the Ole Miss product.
3. TRE NORWOOD, S
Entering the 2022 season, expectations were a bit high for Tre Norwood as that versatile safety for the Steelers, one who could play in the box or centerfield and be a special teams piece for Pittsburgh. Then, the season happened and it was rather dreadful for the former sixth-round pick.
Norwood, in limited action, led the Steelers in missed tackles last season, per my charting, and had an abysmal 32.4 percent missed tackles rate, recording 11 misses on 34 total tackle attempts. Of those with at least 25 tackle attempts, the next closest to Norwood’s was former cornerback Arthur Maulet’s 15.7 percent and he was mixing it downhill against the run a lot more often.
Two of Norwood’s misses came on special teams, too, which won’t endear him to special teams coordinator Danny Smith moving forward.
Any way you slice it with Norwood, his second season in the NFL was really bad overall. It’s a big third season for Norwood. He showed flashes of being a real piece for the Steelers moving forward as a rookie, but that consistency and impact eluded him in Year Two. Now, Pittsburgh has added more veterans to the safety room in free agent addition Keanu Neal, re-signing Damontae Kazee, and retaining the likes of Elijah Riley and Miles Killebrew.
It’s becoming a crowded room. Norwood has to hit the ground running in camp and try and find the level of play he displayed as a rookie in the Black and Gold.
4. CORY TRICE JR., CB
Leading up to the 2023 NFL Draft, I believed there was a strong chance that one of Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr. or Purdue’s Cory Trice Jr. was going to be a Steeler due to the size and physicality the cornerbacks bring to the table, not to mention the length overall at the position. Turns out both of them are now Steelers, and Pittsburgh remains fortunate that Trice fell to the seventh round due to medical concerns.
In a rebuilt cornerbacks room featuring veterans Patrick Peterson and Chandon Sullivan, not to mention Porter, my eyes will be on Trice once things kick off at Chuck Noll Field. He was a dominant cornerback for the Boilermakers and really had no business falling to the seventh round, but he did. Now, he has a chip on his shoulder.
That chip carried into OTAs and minicamp where Trice had a strong showing, raising some eyebrows. I’m looking forward to seeing him match up against Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, Allen Robinson II and more throughout training camp when given the opportunity to see if he can prove himself and carve out a role defensively as a rookie.
If he can, the rebuilt cornerback room will look all that much better once the Steelers take to the field in early September.
5. DAVID PERALES, OLB
When it comes to training camp darlings, oftentimes it feels like there’s always one camp darling who happens to be a pass rusher. I think Fresno State’s David Perales could be that guy this year and could realistically force the Steelers to keep five outside linebackers entering Week One.
His college production is nothing to sneeze at: 38 career tackles for loss, 23 sacks, and a whopping nine forced fumbles. The dude was a flat-out playmaker. That alone doesn’t guarantee NFL success but it’s hard to be a pass rusher who didn’t succeed in college and expect to turn it on at the game’s highest level.
His numbers got better throughout his college career, ending 2022 with 16 TFL and 11.5 sacks. He was productive against bigger and smaller schools. A two-sack outing against USC. A four-sack drubbing of San Jose State. He even made plays in coverage, registering his first career INT as a senior while breaking up five passes.
Perales can bend the edge, plays with a hot motor, and is gap sound in the run game — all things the Steelers require from their EDGE defenders. While the testing numbers weren’t all that good overall, that motor and his ability to be assignment sound and consistently in the right place should have him making plays in training camp and in the preseason.
There’s a reason the Steelers targeted him as a priority UDFA. I am looking forward to seeing him learn from T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Markus Golden in training camp and potentially pushing a guy like Quincy Roche for that fifth OLB spot, should Pittsburgh keep five.
