Rookie second-round DL Keeanu Benton missed most of last week’s second preseason game for the Pittsburgh Steelers after impressing in his NFL debut a week earlier. He exited that game late with an injury and was unable to get up to speed sufficiently enough for the coaches to feel comfortable putting him on the field outside of special teams.
That is valuable time lost for a player in his position—specifically, a rookie from whom much is expected early. The old adage applies here: the best ability is availability. That’s not to suggest that he has durability concerns, but with such a compressed timeline to prepare for a significant role at the outset of your rookie season, you can’t afford to spend much time watching from the sidelines.
Which makes the Steelers’ Thursday night game critical for the Wisconsin Badger. Coming out of the first preseason game, he was very clearly going to be in the running for the starting nose tackle job. While Benton was healthy enough to log five special teams snaps against the Buffalo Bills, he was not practicing fully the last time he was in the public eye.
Head coach Mike Tomlin did not mention him by name in either a positive or negative light on Tuesday when discussing availability of opportunity for the preseason finale. He listed Larry Ogunjobi and Tre Norwood as players dealing with injuries who could have a chance to play, but otherwise said all who are healthy would be eligible to play.
Where does that leave Benton? The Steelers play only five days after a game in which they were not comfortable putting him out on the field on defense, though, as noted, he was healthy enough for football activities to participate on special teams.
Assuming that he is available, he is going to have to play a lot and perform at a high level if he is going to have a significant role in the season opener. One preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ backup offensive linemen is not the most impressive resume.
One would hope the Steelers will want to see the rookie get in some work with first-team personnel, especially if key veterans like Cameron Heyward won’t be playing, and depending upon the availability of a guy like Ogunjobi. One presumes the opportunity will be there provided that Benton is physically and mentally prepared for it.
Beginning the season in a deep reserve role, or even inactive, wouldn’t be the end of the world. One need only look to Stephon Tuitt as another former second-round defensive lineman whose initial playing time was somewhat fragmentary before going on to become a Pro Bowl-caliber player.
Benton has the potential to be a dominant force for this defensive front for years to come. But right now, he just needs to put more quality reps on tape for the coaches to evaluate. Seeing is believing, and the Steelers want to believe he can succeed against NFL-level talent before they throw him out there.
