The Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 class is easy enough to remember, right? Kenny Pickett in the first round. George Pickens in the second round. And then…wait, who was their third-rounder?
At this point, some fans might not be able to answer that. It’s hard to blame them. The answer is DeMarvin Leal, and he’s hardly seeing the field right now.
Leal had an impact as a rookie. It was a turbulent year full of position changes, switching to a hybrid d-line/outside linebacker role when T.J. Watt partially tore his bicep in Week One. Leal himself injured his knee mid-way through the year, spending a month on IR, but came back to finish out the season. He logged 175 total snaps though the production was light, finishing with 14 tackles (one for a loss) with zero sacks.
Like Pickett and Pickens, 2023 was the year for Leal to make a jump. He had a clear role out of the gate, especially with Cam Heyward hurting his groin in Week One. Aside from missing Week Five with a concussion, Leal was seeing significant rotational snaps. Here’s his weekly snap count:
Week 1 – 26 snaps (38 percent)
Week 2 – 39 snaps (45 percent)
Week 3 – 33 snaps (46 percent)
Week 4 – 21 snaps (30 percent)
Week 7 – 23 snaps (34 percent)
Week 8 – 14 snaps (20 percent)
Week 9 – 24 snaps (32 percent)
Cam Heyward returned in Week Nine and ramped up for Week 10. Of course, it’d be reasonable to expect Leal to lose some snaps. But with a competitive defensive line featuring Isaiahh Loudermilk, Armon Watts, and himself, someone was going to be the odd man out (the injured Montravius Adams occupied the inactive spot). It’s become Leal. Over the last three weeks, here’s his snap count.
Week 10 – 4 snaps (six percent)
Week 11 – 5 snaps (seven percent)
Week 12 – 3 snaps (seven percent)
Twelve snaps over the last three weeks. One of which was a kneel down at the end of the first half against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Loudermilk and Watts have been clearly playing ahead. Over the last three games, Loudermilk has logged 29 defensive snaps while Watts sits at 58, in part because he’s filled in as a backup nose tackle with Montravius Adams out. And Watts was inactive for the Week 9 game when the Steelers’ line was healthy with Heyward back in the fold. But he’s easily passed Leal by.
What seems to be the issue is Leal’s lack of a pass rush. Of his 11 non-kneel down snaps over the last three weeks, eight of them have come in the team’s base defense. On the season, over 63 percent of his snaps have come in base/run packages despite Pittsburgh utilizing it roughly 35 percent as a team.
Coming out of Texas A&M, Leal was a tremendous athlete who seemed like he would excel as a pass rusher with questions about his bulk and run defense. Instead, the scouting report has flipped. Leal has been solid against the run, using his hands well to disengage from blocks (look at him toast Trent Williams in Week One), but he’s non-existent in the passing game. Per our charting, he has six pressures on the season with one sack. On the surface, that number doesn’t look terrible, but the quality of his pressures has been low, and his sack should’ve been negated on a missed facemask call on Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson.
Through two years, the impact plays haven’t been there. Just three tackles for a loss, two QB hits, and that sack. It’s kept him glued to run-down situations, and the team doesn’t trust him in sub-packages. They’ve used everyone else instead except for Loudermilk, who has only played 20 percent of the team’s sub-packages all year. And they have been liking Loudermilk more against the run, who has improved throughout the season.
Leal’s a hard guy to figure out. He’s still athletic, runs like the wind in space, and his hand use is solid, using multiple moves to defeat blocks in the running game. It’s just not translating as a pass rusher. And to be a relatively small defensive lineman who can’t rush the passer in this day and age – it’s not like he’s a supreme run-stuffing nose tackle – makes it hard to find a fit and role.
Assuming Adams returns this weekend, and it sounds like he will, one of the seven Steelers’ d-linemen won’t dress. Will it be Leal? Based on playing time, that would make the most sense. The only caveat would be going back to Week Nine when Watts didn’t dress. He is benefitting from being the backup nose tackle. With Adams back, that role isn’t needed.
But to the larger point, Leal’s role has shrunk. He hasn’t made a jump and his lack of a pass rush is a serious concern. He has to figure it out. The Steelers have to see and trust him enough to rush the passer, or else Leal’s role in Pittsburgh won’t be the only thing to shrink. His time with the team will also.
