Entering the NFL as an experienced defensive tackle in a scheme at Wisconsin that is pretty similar to the one the Pittsburgh Steelers use, second-round draft pick Keeanu Benton had a bit of a leg up on the rest of the rookies, at least from the standpoint of grasping and understanding the scheme and terminology.
That really only left the speed of the game and the physicality as the biggest hurdles for Benton when it came to adjusting to the NFL.
So far, through two weeks of training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Benton feels he’s done a pretty good job of acclimating to the speed of the game and the overall tempo.
Speaking with reporters following Sunday’s practice on Chuck Noll Field in Latrobe, Benton stated he is getting more and more comfortable with the NFL game.
“Just being confident in what I’m doing, helping me play the game a lot faster,” Benton said, according to video via Steelers.com. “The speed of the game, the tempo’s changed since college, so I think I’ve done a pretty good job acclimating to that and just hope to keep it going.”
Through 10 practices in training camp, Benton is certainly getting more and more comfortable. He’s already called the transition from a scheme standpoint an “easy” one and now he’s starting to make more plays in camp.
Benton finds himself behind Montravius Adams and Breiden Fehoko on the initial depth chart at nose tackle, which isn’t all that much of a surprise. The defensive line has been rather impressive in camp, which is making things rather difficult — in a good way — for the Steelers from a roster-decision standpoint.
Benton is safe, but he has to start stacking good days together. Good news is, he seems to be doing that recently.
On Saturday, Benton had a big hit on RB Anthony McFarland Jr. behind the line of scrimmage on a run play. He later helped blow up a run play to Jaylen Warren with great penetration off the snap of the ball, allowing linebacker Kwon Alexander to clean up the play.
Also on Saturday, Benton had some strong showings in 1v1 pass rush drills against offensive linemen Ryan McCollum and James Daniels. Benton won against McCollum with a strong rip move and later beat Daniels with a club/swim, according to Steelers Depot’s own Alex Kozora. Benton capped off the strong day with a rip through Daniels to win the final rep of 1v1.
As he continues to adjust to the speed of the game, that will allow Benton to really lean on his size, length and strength on the interior, hopefully helping him work his way into a role defensively for Pittsburgh in 2023. Playing fast and free is the key. Benton is getting there.
