Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: DL Keeanu Benton
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The rookie defensive lineman had an encouraging debut this past Sunday in an otherwise very disappointing afternoon for the defense. The Steelers will have to put his abilities to good use with Cameron Heyward out for the foreseeable future, after reportedly undergoing sports hernia surgery, which could keep him sidelined for a couple months.
While no rookies started in the season opener for the Steelers, there is the possibility that two will start the second game—or none again. RT Chukwuma Okorafor remains in the concussion protocol, so if he can’t go, then Broderick Jones will have to play.
Somewhat less tied to injury is the status of Keeanu Benton, the defensive lineman out of Wisconsin drafted in the second round. Though the injury to Cameron Heyward plays a role, the fact of the matter is that he clearly outplayed Montravius Adams last Sunday.
Now that he’s gotten his feet wet and the coaches have solid tape of him going up against quality starting NFL offensive linemen, we could see them make that switch to Benton over Adams—really, any week now. It’s an inevitable move, so we should be prepared for it at any point.
It should be noted that defensive coordinator Teryl Austin suggested yesterday that the Steelers might keep Benton playing the nose tackle position for the time being, even in light of Heyward’s injury, so we can’t exactly expect him to be playing defensive end right now.
On the other hand, the Steelers do view Adams as end-capable, so we could see both of them on the field together in 3-4 fronts if for some reason they really believe Adams gives them a better top trio than DeMarvin Leal or Isaiahh Loudermilk or Armon Watts.
Understandably, their priority is getting Benton on the field and allowing him to thrive. The easiest way to do that is to limit what you throw at him. They have been working him at nose tackle all offseason, so adding in wrinkles right now could slow his progress.
But what they can do is increase his snaps. He played a couple dozen snaps in the first game, which is obviously nothing insubstantial, but he played less than Adams and Loudermilk. In my view, right now, he should be playing the second-most snaps within the group behind Larry Ogunjobi. Test him out and see if he can handle it. If he can, leave him in there. That’s what he was drafted for. The guy inspires confidence.
Although if he really wants the coaches’ confidence, he needs to be more careful in his lane discipline.
