Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan put a lot of thought into the 2023 offseason, investing heavily both in free agency and the draft in an attempt to get the Steelers back into both postseason contention and to lay the building blocks for championship contention.
There’s no surprise that out of the rookie class, players like CB Joey Porter Jr., OT Broderick Jones, and TE Darnell Washington have gotten a lot of focus. Porter is the son of a much-loved franchise defender and Jones was brought in to protect QB Kenny Pickett’s blindside for the foreseeable future. As for Washington, it’s simply impossible to not focus on the man nicknamed “Mount Washington” when he’s on the field.
However, NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein went a different direction when predicting the rookie who will have the most influence on the Steelers in 2023, selecting second-round pick DT Keeanu Benton.
“This is one of the more challenging selections in this exercise,” Zierlein wrote. “While Jones and Porter have a chance of becoming cornerstone players who ultimately exceed Benton’s ceiling, the DT’s two-gapping power at the point of attack should give him an immediate opportunity [to] play a critical role in the D-line rotation.”
Benton played four years at the University of Wisconsin, including all 12 games in both his junior and senior seasons. He showed the ability to give opposing offensive lines problems throughout his career with 80 total tackles, 19 tackles for a loss, and nine sacks, and he saved his best season for last in 2022. He set career highs in total tackles with 35, tackles for a loss with 10, and sacks with 4.5 while also tying his career high with two passes knocked down.
Then Benton made his NFL debut in the Steelers’ 27-17 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to open the 2023 NFL preseason. He played 28 snaps before exiting the game with an ankle injury, but he made his snaps count. He had three total tackles plus a tackle for a loss while generally making the Buccaneers offensive linemen’s lives miserable.
Our very own Josh Carney took a detailed look at Benton’s debut in his film room session, and what stood out to Carney was Benton’s explosiveness. There’s no question that he is a large human being at 6-foot-4, 309 pounds, and the ability to get into an offensive lineman quickly only amplifies the impact a man of his size can have.
Evidently, Zierlein feels like Benton can carve himself a role in the defensive line rotation and make an impact early. With how he performed against the Buccaneers, Benton is doing his best to make sure that happens.
