Those who follow along well enough should get a pretty decent sense during the pre-draft process which prospects fit what the Pittsburgh Steelers are looking for. We’re talking about the sort of players who, if available when it’s their turn to pick, will shortly be wearing the black and gold.
Wisconsin’s Keeanu Benton is one such player who was identified early on, by Alex Kozora. The connections only became more prominent during Senior Bowl practices, with a certain head coach looming over the Badger, as Louis Riddick noted recently in talking about the Steelers’ defense.
“Keeanu Benton, who they drafted out of Wisconsin, I remember Mike [Tomlin] standing down at the Senior Bowl watching this dude and coaching him individually”, he said on the Rich Eisen Show. “And Mike wasn’t even the coach in the Senior Bowl. But he was coaching the guy up. I was like, ‘Pittsburgh’s gonna draft this dude. There’s no question about that’”.
Well, fast forward a couple of months and, of course, he is in fact wearing the black and gold of Pittsburgh. The Steelers used their 49th-overall pick in the second round in order to add him to the defensive line, the second player at the position to be drafted on day two for Pittsburgh in as many years, joining DeMarvin Leal.
With Cameron Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi installed at the two defensive end positions, Benton’s easiest path to significant playing time would be to occupy the nose tackle role, ensuring snaps in the 3-4 front.
To do so, he will have to unseat veteran Montravius Adams, who has spent the better part of the past two seasons as the team’s primary nose tackle, though in unconventional circumstances. He was a midseason pickup in 2021, and began last season as Tyson Alualu’s backup before the senior lineman was demoted.
The Steelers, however, would appear to believe that Benton has a complete skillset that would allow him to play anywhere along the defensive line, both at five-tech end and 0-tech nose tackle, as well as everywhere in between.
It will be interesting to see how immediate an impact he can make, especially given that it’s difficult to ascertain much of anything regarding linemen during the spring before the pads come on. Chatter about Benton has been on the lighter side at this time of year compared to the rest of the draft class, but the nature of the practices in May and June are precisely the reason for that.
