Two rookies started on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense this past Sunday. A pair of second-round picks, including CB Joey Porter Jr., who surpassed Levi Wallace on the depth chart a few weeks back. DL Keeanu Benton, too, had the opportunity to start and toe play more, but that was due to an injury to starting NT Montravius Adams, who had high praise for his young linemate.
“I have nothing bad to say. I mean, we all have bad plays, but he could have been a Day-One starter.”, he told reporters about Benton yesterday, according to Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, who quotes the veteran in an article published Thursday evening.
“Fundamentally, he’s one of our better players just coming straight from college to the team”, Adams added. “I’ve seen him grow every game. Pass rush, he’s been great, honestly. Overall, I would say he’s been doing good”.
Indeed he has, and he has impressed his teammates and coaches with his improvement. It’s only a credit to Adams that he has been able to maintain a grip on his starting job over the rookie, himself stepping up and playing some of the best football of his career.
Adams was injured just two plays into the game against the Tennessee Titans two weeks back. He missed this past Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers and doesn’t appear likely to play this Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. He has yet to practice thus far this week.
Taken with the 49th-overall pick out of Wisconsin, Benton doesn’t seem to have had to deal with much of a learning curve. He has played pretty consistently well throughout his 282 defensive snaps through nine weeks. While he only has one sack, he is winning pass-rush reps, getting into the backfield, and influencing plays.
He is not yet a finished product, but that only means he will continue to get better. In the early stages, he has the look of a player who could be an effective long-term starter in the trenches, something the Steelers very much need.
Although they have largely been using him as a nose tackle, in addition to sub-package rushing work, Benton is also athletic enough to play end in a 3-4 front. They had already begun to experiment with playing him as a rotational end with Adams still in the game at nose tackle. That is something they can continue to explore once the front returns to health.
Will he be the Steelers’ next Javon Hargrave? Given what he went on to become after he priced his way out of Pittsburgh, that’s hard to say. But let’s face it, it’s been too long since the last time they found a keeper in the trenches—the last time being Hargrave, in the third round in 2016.
