It’s never a good thing when you’re making a high draft pick a healthy scratch by the end of his second season. You never want that to happen, but Pittsburgh Steelers DL DeMarvin Leal’s inactive status for Thursday’s game was an indictment of his play.
Or what little he’d had lately. The coaches had been scaling back his snaps for weeks. He only played 16 defensive snaps in the four games leading up to Thursday night, which oddly happened to coincide with NT Montravius Adams’ injury.
With Adams back, Leal lost his helmet altogether. The fact that he’d barely played while Adams was absent strongly indicates this had been a long time coming. Perhaps he would have been benched even sooner.
It “definitely did” hurt to be benched, Leal admitted, via Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “but it’s the name of the business, I knew that much, and I know that [what happens next] is up to me. It’s a matter of what I do next, and it’s what I’m gonna do”.
Drafted in the third round in 2022, Leal was the highest the team had drafted a defensive lineman, 84th overall, since taking Stephon Tuitt in the second round in 2014. Javon Hargrave was also a third-round pick in 2016, but a little bit later.
Leal has played 197 defensive snaps this season, representing just 26 percent of the snaps. And that’s even more concerning given how much time Cameron Heyward and Adams missed. He did play more while Heyward was out, but since he’s returned the coaches have gone other ways.
Isaiahh Loudermilk, whom he leapfrogged on the depth chart last year, is playing considerably more, as is Armon Watts, a free agent signing this offseason who began the year a healthy scratch. Now Leal has to find a way to get his gameday helmet back.
“How am I approaching it? I am just watching film more, watching more of my own film rather than just the whole thing and just seeing what I can do better with myself and looking at the play calls and seeing what I can use within the play calls to be successful”, Adamski quotes Leal as saying. “And use the right type of technique and see what I see and be full speed when I do get out there”.
As he noted, there is a long week ahead for the Steelers in their preparation for their next game after playing on a Thursday. He’s going to have to prove to his coaches between now and then that he deserves an opportunity to play more than somebody else in that defensive line room.
He is one of the most talented players in that room, but he hasn’t figured out how to use it yet. Most surprising was his inability to offer anything as a pass rusher earlier this year. Will the benching succeed in sending the necessary message? How will he respond?
