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: With Cameron Heyward due to be sidelined for a while with a sports hernia injury that landed him on the Reserve/Injured List, rookie Keeanu Benton could be the primary beneficiary, or at least one of them. After showing well in his NFL debut, he could see an expanded role that includes time at 3-4 defensive end.
In spite of the great deal of hype, the Steelers’ rookie draft class did not make a huge impact in the first game of the season. Granted, they also didn’t play a ton of snaps, though some had more work than others.
Benton ended up being one of them, getting a couple dozen snaps under his belt, most of which came after captain Cameron Heyward checked out of the game due to a groin injury. With the amount of time they will spend with two down linemen, his “limitation” up to this point as a nose tackle should not have much of an impact on his playing time.
While the Steelers may technically “start” DeMarvin Leal or Isaiahh Loudermilk in Heyward’s place in a base 3-4 front, Benton should still profit heartily from Heyward’s absence. His performance in the first game and expectations of what he will do in the future will dictate that.
He is already showing the coaching staff the indications they were looking for, indications of being the player that they believed he would be when they drafted him. He is strong, athletic, physical, with the ability to play stout reactive defense or aggressive proactive defense. He can hold the point of attack or blow up a gap.
Put simply, the Steelers won’t have anybody else on the field in the trenches with the same level of talent as him. And that’s only going to become more obvious as time goes on. That’s why I expect him to force the issue of playing time sooner rather than later, beginning in today’s game against a Cleveland Browns team with some excellent guards in Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller.
