Following each game, I will be looking at the rookies and how they fared each week. This will consist of thoughts such as the positive and negatives from that game, areas to watch or work on and clips to support what I’m sharing. Hopefully, this will shed some insight on some things you may or may not have seen.
Week 7 vs: Los Angeles Rams
Active Players
#77 Broderick Jones (Round 1) – 4 special teams snaps
The return of Dan Moore Jr. returned Broderick Jones to a reserve role. He did not see the field on offense but did get four snaps on the field goal unit.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 121 offensive snaps, 19 special teams snaps
#24 Joey Porter, Jr. (Round 2) – 53 defensive snaps, 5 special teams snaps, 3 tackles, 2 solo, 1 PBU, 2 missed tackles.
Porter saw his most extensive action of the season as he draws more trust from the coaching staff. He played primarily on the left side but also saw a couple snaps on the right. His coverage snaps were split fairly evenly between zone and man coverage. Again, he was his best in press coverage. He has proven effective at bodying the receiver to hold up their release. In off-man coverage, he was solid. He lost a shallow cross early in the game but most of the Steelers defensive backs had the same issue. Overall, he was targeted three times without allowing a reception and breaking up one of the passes. He missed one tackle in coverage failing to wrap up the receiver.
In the run game, he was willing, but his technique needs some work. He will stick his face in the fan but struggles to take down runners. He bounced off one potential tackle and got dragged for a couple yards on another attempt.
He’ll get better tackling, but his coverage skills are what are most valuable. He’s far and away the best cover corner on the team.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 139 defensive snaps, 27 special team’s snaps, 9 tackles, 5 solo, 3 PBU, 1 INT, 3 missed tackles
#95 Keeanu Benton (Round 2) – 19 defensive snaps, 2 special teams snaps, 2 QB hits
For the first time this season, Benton was held without a tackle. He spent time as the nose tackle and 1 technique but spent the most snaps at the 3 technique. Against the run, he started with a bad rep, getting driven out of the hole by a double team. He tried shooting across the face of the guard a few times but was unsuccessful. Later in the game, he did a nice job on a second rep against a double team and did well to clog the lane on an outside run.
As a pass rusher, he was able to apply pressure on multiple occasions, including a pair of quarterback hits. He struggled versus the center on a couple of occasions, losing his balance once and getting tripped up another time. His best rush was a club/swim against the right guard to get his first QB hit. High effort chased the quarterback from the pocket on two other occasions, including once as the penetrator on a stunt.
Not a lot on the stat sheet for Benton this week but he made himself known.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 159 defensive snaps, 7 special teams snaps, 13 tackles, 5 solo, 1 tackle, 1 TFL, 4 QB hits, 1 FF.
#80 Darnell Washington (Round 3) – 31 offensive snaps, 8 special teams snaps
Washington topped 50 percent of the offensive snaps for the second consecutive game. He was not targeted in the game and was used sparingly on passing routes. He ran a flat route, deep curl, shallow cross twice and did a chip release near the goal line. That last route was most interesting. All the other routes went to the right side of the field, his went left. It seems like a play the Steelers could set up and use again in the red zone for an easy score.
In the run game, he was strong again. Facing off with defensive ends and outside linebackers, he had his share of wins. Positioning himself well and using his length and strength to his advantage provided ample running room on several plays. One area to work on would be on the second level. Climbing off combo blocks or releasing to the second level and locating the most dangerous defender and engaging quickly will add value to his game.
Washington is on the left side of each of these plays. Love to see the big man do his thing.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 181 offensive snaps, 49 special team’s snaps, 3 targets, 1 reception, 10 yards
#51 Nick Herbig (Round 4) – 12 defensive snaps, 20 special team’s snaps, 3 solo tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit.
It was a good week for Herbig, getting his first NFL sack. He took advantage of the left tackle being slow at the snap, using his quickness and bend to easily get around him for the sack. That wasn’t his only effective pass rush. He had another using a cross chop to get by the left tackle. On his other pass rushes he was chipped multiple times diminishing his effectiveness.
Against the run, he wasn’t involved in many plays but again showed his quickness chasing down a ball carrier from the backside. He added another tackle on the second half kickoff. He’s been a good core player on special teams to this point.
A sack, a nice pass rush and a backside-pursuit tackle were the highlights of Herbig’s game.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 67 defensive snaps, 127 special teams snaps
#74 Spencer Anderson (7th)
Anderson was active but did not enter the game.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 1 offensive snap, 5 special teams snaps
2023 Rookies Of The Week
Week 1 – NT Keeanu Benton
Week 2 – CB Joey Porter Jr.
Week 3 – NT Keeanu Benton
Week 4 – TE Darnell Washington
Week 5 – OT Broderick Jones
Week 6 – Bye
Week 7 – OLB Nick Herbig
Inactive for Week 7 – #21 Darius Rush (Round 5 IND)
Practice Squad (For Week 7) – #79 OL Joey Fisher (UDFA SF), #40 OLB David Perales (UDFA PIT), #N/A FB Jack Coletto (UDFA SF), #81 TE Noah Gindorff (UDFA SEA), #85 WR Duece Watts (UDFA GB)
Reserve/Injured – #27 DB Cory Trice Jr.
