When the Pittsburgh Steelers landed Wisconsin defensive lineman Keeanu Benton at No. 49 overall in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, Pittsburgh was hoping to get a piece they could mold along the defensive line and eventually have him play a prominent role late in the season.
Instead, due to his impressive play, coupled with an injury to Cameron Heyward, Benton has been inserted into a larger role for the Steelers in the trenches defensively and has thrived.
In the first four games of the 2023 season, Benton has graded out at a 78.6 overall from Pro Football Focus, including a stellar 82.8 pass rush grade and a 64.5 run defense grade. He has 10 tackles on the season in 107 snaps, including four pressures and one sack, which came in Week Three on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders.
In three of four games this season, Benton has graded out at a 78.7 or higher from PFF, which is pretty darn impressive from a rookie defensive lineman.
Knowing that, it’s not surprising that Benton cracked NFL.com’s top 25 rookies in the first quarter of the season Friday, landing at No. 15 overall in Marc Ross’ rankings.
“Every season, the Steelers seem to have a young defender break out. This year, it’s Keeanu Benton, who took on a bigger role after Cam Heyward’s injury,” Ross writes regarding Benton for NFL.com. “The rookie has only played 36 percent of the team’s defensive snaps this season but has accumulated 10 tackles and one sack, and he’s excelled as a run stopper.”
Benton has gotten better and better throughout the season, which is a reasonable expectation for a rookie continuing to adjust to the NFL.
He played a career-high 29 snaps in the Week Four loss to the Houston Texans and forced a fumble in the fourth quarter, still playing rather hard despite the lopsided scoreboard. He runs to the football, too, which will endear him to his fellow defensive linemen as that has become a necessity in the Black and Gold at the position, dating back to Aaron Smith, Brett Keisel and has carried to Cameron Heyward and now Benton.
Thanks to his strong play in the first quarter of the season, Benton finds himself sandwiched in between Minnesota undrafted free agent linebacker Ivan Pace at No. 16 overall and Dallas kicker Brandon Aubrey at No. 14 overall.
Outside of Philadelphia’s Jalen Carter at No. 2 and Houston’s Will Anderson at No. 11, Benton is the third defensive lineman in the rankings for Ross. Pretty impressive.
Hopefully the arrow continues to point up for Benton moving forward.
