Throughout his illustrious career, defensive lineman Cameron Heyward has put on display his incredible power and tone-setting effort in the trenches, helping turn him into not only the face of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but one of the best defensive linemen in football.
While he is getting up there in age coming off his age-34 season that saw him deal with a serious groin injury that hindered him even after returning from surgery, Heyward still has the respect and admiration of many around the game. That includes Brian Baldinger.
Baldinger, who is one of the very best film analysts in the NFL media landscape, made an appearance on Heyward’s Not Just Football w/ Cam Heyward podcast Thursday and gave a detailed breakdown of Heyward at this point in his career.
“Well, what I love is when Cam goes up against a rookie , if the rookie’s gonna get broken in, he’s gonna give him his long arm, he’s gonna stick to that long arm in there and he is gonna walk him right back in the lap if he doesn’t swim him on the way to take that quarterback down. That’s number one,” Baldinger said of Heyward’s game.
That certainly checks out. Over the years, Heyward has dominated rookies. His performance on Christmas Eve in 2022 against the Las Vegas Raiders and then-rookie guard Dylan Parham remains one of Heyward’s very best games of his career. That it came just days after the death of Hall of Famer Franco Harris and occurred on the night Harris’ No. 32 jersey was retired made it even more special.
Heyward’s long arm and his power have been calling cards of his game. Heyward remains undefeated with his bull rush, even at this point in his career. When he’s healthy and himself, that bull rush is a major weapon, especially when he works the long arm in there. Few defenders in the NFL are as powerful as Heyward and have done it at a high level this long.
But it’s not just the power for Baldinger that stands out. His effort does too.
“I always say the screen game is the defensive lineman’s game. They gotta turn and run and chase. So what does he do? He turns and runs and he chases,” Baldinger said. “So that’s that. So you’re always gonna get that effort and that play.
“And then, when you get a chance to get on an edge of a player, can that player stop your momentum from charging you? You can’t see anybody that can stop him right now.”
The effort has always stood out with Heyward. He consistently turns and runs to the football, and he’s made a number of plays downfield because of his effort. That effort, of course, stems from Heyward’s experience under former Steelers defensive line coach John Mitchell, who preached running to the football and playing with effort. It was a requirement to play for the Steelers along the defensive line, and Heyward took it to heart.
That effort has rubbed off on other defensive linemen. Larry Ogunjobi made a few plays down the field this season chasing the football, and rookie Keeanu Benton picked it up too, making plays in the screen game by running to the ball.
While Heyward will be 35 next season and is showing signs of slowing down, when he’s healthy and on top of his game, he remains an unstoppable force. He flashed that in the Wild Card loss to the Buffalo Bills. Hopefully there is a bit more of that left in his game in what is shaping up to be a potential Hall of Fame career.
