The Pittsburgh Steelers found a gem in rookie NT Keeanu Benton. Steadily improving throughout the year, he has the look and feel of the next great Pittsburgh defensive lineman. He’s strong. He’s athletic. He uses his hands well, runs to the football, and by all accounts, works hard and goes about the game the right way.
But something weird is happening with him. Since Montravius Adams has been out of the lineup, Benton has stepped in and stepped up as the team’s starting nose tackle, the man in the middle of the team’s 3-4 defense. But his role beyond that has continually been shrinking. Sure, Cam Heyward’s return has something to do with it. But it doesn’t explain everything.
Benton is a staple in the team’s base defense. But he’s being frozen out of sub-package snaps. The numbers tell the story.
Since Week Nine, the week Heyward returned, here are the number and percentage of snaps Benton has played in all sub-packages, anything other than the Steelers’ three or four-down front.
| Week | Benton Sub-Package Snaps | Benton Sub-Package % |
|---|---|---|
| Week Nine (Titans) | 20 | 47.6% |
| Week Ten (Packers) | 18 | 46.2% |
| Week 11 (Browns) | 11 | 28.9% |
| Week 12 (Bengals) | 6 | 23.1% |
| Week 13 (Cardinals) | 1 | 3.1% |
In Week Nine, Benton was playing nearly half the team’s sub-package snaps. In Week 13, he logged all of one of them. And against the Cardinals, he played just 37 percent of the defense’s total snaps, his lowest share since Week 7 against Jacksonville, a near 100 percent 11 personnel team.
To restate the obvious. Cam Heyward is back. And his snaps have ramped up. When he was shelved, that’s where Benton was logging plenty of sub-package time. To expect that number to maintain or even be close with Heyward healthy and getting further away from his groin injury and return would be unrealistic. Of course, Benton was going to lose some snaps.
But to this degree? One snap against the Cardinals? It’s not like the Bengals game. Pittsburgh’s defense was on the field a lot in this one.
The bigger issue is who else is seeing those snaps. Against Arizona, here are the sub-package snaps by each defensive lineman who dressed for the game.
Larry Ogunjobi: 28
Cam Heyward: 27
Armon Watts: 5
Isaiahh Loudermilk: 3
Keeanu Benton: 1
DeMarvin Leal: 0
Playing Ogunjobi and Heyward a lot? Fine be me. Those guys are the high-paid veterans. But Benton having fewer snaps than Watts or Loudermilk? That’s a problem. Benton is an excellent pass rusher, winning one-on-one with his club/swim, and has increasingly been able to collapse the pocket. He still has work to do, and his bull rush must be stronger, but he’s a quality option. There has to be a way to work him into things.
I can take a guess at what happened Sunday. The Cardinals are a heavy personnel team, a unit that employs two or three tight ends. Pittsburgh was expecting to gear up and be in their base packages a lot in this one, meaning Benton would play a lot. When the team was practicing during the week, Benton was repping and working in that grouping. Leaving the team to rep guys like Watts and Loudermilk into sub-packages behind Heyward and Ogunjobi, assuming Benton would be a little gassed and not have the energy to rush on third down after stopping the run on first and second down.
When it came to gameday, the Cardinals played more 11 personnel than expected (51.7 percent of their non-kneel down snaps, despite holding a lead the entire 2nd half), and Benton hadn’t gotten the practice reps in sub to rotate in. Heyward and Ogunjobi played most of them, with Watts and Loudermilk filtering in.
Giving grace to the coaches, perfecting rotational snaps is difficult to do. There are a bunch of variables at play, and you’re never quite sure about the opponent’s game plan or how game circumstances can dictate things. Sometimes snap counts ebb and flow game-to-game, and they don’t align exactly like you had in your head. But there is a trend of Benton devolving into just a base personnel guy, a role he’s certainly capable and effective at. Still, he can be more than just an old-school head-up or shade, and the larger point is they have to find ways to get him involved in base and sub for the rest of the season. There should just be a moment to reflect, self-scout, tweak, and correct the rest of the way. That’s all I’m asking for.
It’s good to keep Heyward and Ogunjobi fresh, and it’s good to play your top people as much as you can. The team has always tried to limit Heyward’s snaps – usually failing – and Ogunjobi, while getting pressure, isn’t some incredible pass rusher who has to always stay on the field. At last check, Benton had the better pass rush rate two-fold compared to Ogunjobi. Nothing says Benton needs to start or play the majority of these snaps. But he needs to play some. Or else the Steelers aren’t maximizing their talent.
