Entering the 2023 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers appeared to have strength at the defensive end position on the defensive side of the football.
With Cameron Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi back for a second season together, expectations were high. But with an injury hitting Heyward hard, causing him to miss six games, and depth really being tested opposite Ogunjobi, the defensive ends for the Steelers didn’t exactly live up to expectations.
It wasn’t just Heyward and Ogunjobi, either. DeMarvin Leal took a major step backwards. Isaiahh Loudermilk appears all out of opportunities, and Armon Watts was serviceable, but not exactly a needle mover in the trenches.
Now that the season is behind us, it’s a time for reflection and analysis, and that will focus on my Steelers positional grades season review. Today, we’ll look at the Steelers’ defensive ends, taking an individual look at the only player who saw snaps at the position for the Steelers, that Heyward, Ogunjobi, Loudermilk, Watts and Leal.
Steelers’ Positional Grades Season Review: QBs
Steelers’ Positional Grades Season Review: RBs
Steelers’ Positional Grades Season Review: WRs
Steelers’ Positional Grades Season Review: TEs
Steelers’ Positional Grades Season Review: OTs
Steelers’ Positional Grades Season Review: OGs
Steelers’ Positional Grades Season Review: C
CAMERON HEYWARD: GRADE — C-
Coming into the 2023 season, Cameron Heyward was poised for a big year. After recording back-to-back 10+ sack seasons, Heyward was rolling entering his 13th season. Then, it all came crashing down. Heyward suffered a groin injury in training camp that slowed him, and then he completely tore it in the season opener against the 49ers, causing him to undergo surgery and land on the Reserve/Injured list.
Heyward missed six games before returning in Week Nine on Thursday Night Football against the Tennessee Titans. Though he was an obvious piece that plugged in and helped the run defense, Heyward simply wasn’t himself throughout much of the season, one he called very trying. He found his groove late in the season and looked like his old self in the Wild Card loss to the Buffalo Bills, but Heyward really battled with Father Time in 2023.
He’ll be back for the 2024 season — and potentially beyond — but last season was a real slog for Heyward just to be healthy and on the field. It was taxing. We’ll see if a healthy offseason can help him regain his dominant form in 2024, because grading out at a career-worst 71.9 overall from Pro Football Focus just isn’t good enough.
LARRY OGUNJOBI: GRADE — D+
Healthy and playing in all 17 games for a full season, Ogunjobi didn’t quite meet expectations after the Steelers re-signed him in free agency to a three-year deal. Though Ogunjobi was able to play every game and play nearly 70% of the snaps, he didn’t quite produce the way he was expected to. Ogunjobi had 3.0 sacks on the season but produced just three tackles for loss, a career-worst.
Ogunjobi also had just 43 tackles, which was his lowest total in a season since his rookie year in 2017. According to Pro Football Focus, Ogunjobi graded out at just a 59.2 overall on the season, including a 53.2 against the run and a 59.2 rushing the passer. He had just 35 pressures, too, struggling to produce without Heyward opposite him.
With the focus on him to be the top defensive lineman with Heyward out of the lineup, Ogunjobi struggled with more attention. He had flashes, no doubt, but he was far too inconsistent. It was a disappointing season.
ARMON WATTS: GRADE — C+
Watts was an intriguing signing in free agency, adding depth and experience to the defensive line room. Though he wasn’t a lock to make the 53-man roster, Watts had a strong training camp and preseason, earning his way onto the roster. Quietly, he pushed for a role as a rotational piece, too, surpassing some of the younger pieces on the depth chart.
Watts played 273 snaps for the Steelers, grading out at a 76.2 overall on the season from PFF, including a 73.8 against the run and a 65.3 as a pass rusher. He generated 16 pressures and a sack on the season and was a sound rotational piece. He closed the season in strong fashion against the Baltimore Ravens, grading out at a 90.3 in the Week 18 win.
His role was reduced late in the season as Heyward got healthy, but there is no denying that he was a valuable piece for the Steelers in the trenches. He’s a piece worth doing business with again.
ISAIAHH LOUDERMILK: GRADE — D
The 2023 season was supposed to be the year that Loudermilk figured it out for the Steelers. That didn’t happen, period. He was also surpassed on the depth chart by Armon Watts, and was a healthy scratch against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15.
When on the field, Loudermilk didn’t do much of anything. He played 180 total snaps on the season and was a complete liability against the run. Teams targeted him in the run game. On the year, Loudermilk graded out at just a 55.9 overall, including a 58.7 against the run and a 47.3 as a pass rusher. He generated just four pressures on the season and just 16 tackles. He didn’t record a single tackle for loss, either.
At this point, Loudermilk looks as though he’s never going to figure it out. He’s running out of chances in Pittsburgh and should firmly be viewed as a guy on the wrong side of the roster bubble entering the offseason.
DEMARVIN LEAL: GRADE — F
What a massive disappointment DeMarvin Leal was in 2023. Entering Year Two with the Steelers, the hope was that Leal would take a step forward in his development and become a real rotational piece for the Steelers.
Safe to say, that didn’t happen — at all. Leal was inactive in five of the last six games of the season, including the playoffs, serving as a healthy scratch in a move that showed the team had clearly not seen enough from him. When he was on the field, he didn’t exactly do much, either. He had just 10 tackles, two tackles for a loss and one sack on the season, playing just 206 defensive snaps. Most of those snaps came before the Week Five bye. He played just 26 snaps from Week Nine to the end of the year.
Yikes.
He was a curious fit in the Steelers’ 3-4 scheme when he was drafted, and hasn’t exactly alleviated those questions in his first two seasons. He’s still a great athlete that has flashed at times, but he has struggled as a pass rusher and really hasn’t been all that impactful as a run defender. He might be running out of time in Pittsburgh — and fast.
