The 2023 season was a rough one from start to finish for Pittsburgh Steelers second-year defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal.
Viewed as a key depth piece coming into the season along an aging defensive line, Leal got off to a slow start, never found his footing in Year 2 and was ultimately a healthy scratch late in the season as the Steelers made a push for the playoffs.
Now, it appears that Leal showed up to training camp out of shape, at least according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo.
In a chat with readers Tuesday morning, Fittipaldo stated that Leal showed up out of shape to training camp, which had the team rather frustrated. Then, when the team put him on the field, he didn’t exactly produce, leading to his benching.
And that now raises concerns, at least from Fittipaldo’s point of view, that Leal doesn’t seem to have much “urgency to develop.”
“Leal showed to camp out of shape last year and struggled to make an impact in camp practices. They ran him out there early in the season, but he didn’t do much,” Fittipaldo stated to a reader in his chat, according to post-gazette.com. “Then he pretty much rode the bench for the remainder of the season. I have no idea what’s going to happen with him. He has talent, but he doesn’t seem to have much urgency to develop.”
Leal’s fitness level was never questioned during training camp, at least not publicly, but Fittipaldo might have heard that from someone inside the organization. Even with the reported fitness issue with Leal reporting to camp out of shape, the second-year pro played well in the preseason. He recorded a sack against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and generated three pressures total in 38 pass-rush reps during the preseason.
A role as a rotational piece seemed imminent in the regular season, and with Cameron Heyward’s injury in the season-opener providing more snaps to Leal, he was on the field quite a bit early in the season.
He played 26 snaps against the San Francisco 49ers, 39 snaps against the Cleveland Browns, recording a sack in the Monday Night Football win, and then 33 snaps in Week 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders on the road.
After that, Leal played 21, 23, 14 and 24 snaps in his next four games, missing the Week 5 contest against the Baltimore Ravens as an inactive, a sign of things to come.
From Weeks 10-15, Leal played just 26 snaps, missing Week 14 against New England as an inactive again. That started a precipitous decline for Leal from a playing time perspective, leading to him finishing the season with four straight inactives, including the Wild Card loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Following the season, head coach Mike Tomlin stated to reporters that Leal “has some work to do” to become a regular for the Steelers once again, which was a bit eye-opening. After never truly being a fit in the Steelers’ 3-4 scheme when he was drafted, it wasn’t much of a surprise to see Leal struggle as a rookie and then as a second-year pro.
Now, he’s in a very tough spot entering Year 3. With no clear role, his fit in the Steelers’ scheme still questionable, he is likely behind the 8-ball as the Steelers are set to address defensive line in free agency and the 2024 NFL Draft again.
He’s a great athlete overall, but it hasn’t clicked for him in Pittsburgh. It might never click for him with the Steelers. Year 3 ahead is a major one for Leal. He’d be wise to show up to camp in great shape and show urgency to develop.
