Nine games into his NFL career, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie defensive lineman Keeanu Benton is turning some heads, both inside and outside of the facility.
Coming off arguably the best game of his young career Sunday in Week 10 against the Green Bay Packers — he recorded seven tackles and generated two pressures, controlling the line of scrimmage throughout the matchup — Benton received high praise from NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger, who broke down some tape of the young defensive lineman Monday morning.
That praise continued Monday afternoon as teammate and fellow Wisconsin Badger product T.J. Watt, appearing on the Green Light Podcast with former NFL defensive end Chris Long and former NFL offensive lineman Kyle Long, spoke glowingly of Benton.
He was a force in the middle of the Steelers’ defense in the 23-19 win, making plays to help the Steelers ultimately win to move to 6-3. For Watt, seeing a young player like Benton be so productive and impactful is huge for the Steelers moving forward.
“I mean, when you can get the interior push as that rusher, when you can get that interior push it makes life so much easier for us. And to be able to really burn the corner, knowing that the quarterback’s not gonna be able to step up makes life a lot easier for us,” Watt said of Benton, who was a force throughout the matchup against the Packers, according to video via the Green Light Podcast.
Coming out of Wisconsin, Benton wasn’t really thought of as a pass rusher just yet in his career, largely because he didn’t show it much in Madison. That was due, for the most part, to his role in Wisconsin, which was at that run-stuffing, space-eating defensive tackle.
In Pittsburgh though, Benton is asked to penetrate and make plays. He’s thriving so far in his career.
What’s stood out the most is Benton’s overall explosiveness and quick hips, which allow him to win quickly as a pass rusher, getting skinny in gaps to turn the corner and generate pressures. His movement skills are eye-opening to Watt.
“Having a guy that’s 300, 310-plus pounds and be able to move like he does, he’s one of the only guys that I know that can actually do like the capture the shoulder, like a drill tape. Like hit the two shuffles and then over like the swim over. Like I never see that work until he came here,” Watt said of Benton, amazed by how good the young piece already is. “And it’s like his bread and butter. He’s been playing some really good football for us. And it’s not just in the pass game. He’s playing the run really well and I don’t wanna talk him up too much, get his head too big, but he is playing some really good football.
“It’s just that Badger, that three-four defense. That’s why you see the correlation with Jim Leonard’s defense. It’s very similar to what we do here. It’s pretty much just translating the language once you get here. But all the movements he’s very familiar with, as you can tell.”
Benton moves so well for a guy his size, and the swim move is his bread and butter right now. Why wouldn’t it be? He’s so darn effective with it and wins consistently, so why not go to the same well until someone can stop it?
Nobody has been able to consistently stop Benton yet as a pass rusher, and he’s only getting better and better with the more experience he gains in the NFL.
Plus, having some familiarity in the system coming from college helps, too. Watt isn’t the first one to state that the Steelers’ defense and Wisconsin’s defense are similar schematically. Head coach Mike Tomlin stated during the summer that the familiarity and the ability to see the transition — calling it a stylistic match — with young players is a reason why the Steelers keep going back to Wisconsin to grab defensive pieces.
It’s paid off with Watt, and the Steelers have had some early success with names like Benton and Nick Herbig in the Black and Gold coming from Wisconsin.
Benton is stealing the show right now though, and has Watt’s attention. That’s a positive development for the Steelers.
