Like DeMarvin Leal, the Pittsburgh Steelers are right where we are: sitting at home being mad. Although they managed to make the playoffs in 2023, they lost in the first round. It has now been seven years without a postseason victory, the longest drought in franchise history. The question is what to do next.
The first step is always taking stock of what happened and what is left. That’s part of the exit meeting process, in which coaches meet with each player. They discuss the season and their expectations moving forward—and potentially their role within it.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between head coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2023 season.
Player: DeMarvin Leal
Position: Defensive End
Experience: 2 Years
The Steelers opted not to dress second-year DE DeMarvin Leal for five of the final six games of the season. He turned into a virtual non-entity after Cameron Heyward returned from his groin injury. That’s a bad sign for his future, though he can still rewrite his narrative.
A 2022 third-round draft pick out of Texas A&M, Leal offers an intriguing athletic profile and theoretical position flexibility. The problem is turning theory into practice, perhaps literally. The coaches surely felt better about Isaiahh Loudermilk on the practice field than they did about Leal. The proof is in the pudding: Loudermilk played, and Leal sat on the bench, often in street clothes.
One wonders how much time on the field Leal sees in 2023 without Heyward’s injury. He played a combined 72 snaps in the first two games before trailing off. After Heyward returned, Leal played a total of 26 snaps in 10 games, for half of which he did not dress.
He still managed to play 206 defensive snaps on the year, producing 15 tackles and one sack. He escaped an obvious penalty for a facemask on that sack, but he sacked Deshaun Watson, so nobody really cares. On the whole, if anything, he offered more potential during his rookie season.
Head coach Mike Tomlin said Leal “has some work to do” in his final press conference of the season. He fielded a question about a path for him to contribute next year. While he said there is a path, he added that Leal has “got to be a component of that”.
Back in December, Leal acknowledged that his demotion hurt but added that he knows he decides what happens next. He recognizes the work that he needs to put in to turn his career around. “It’s a matter of what I do next, and it’s what I’m gonna do”, he said.
It almost sounds as though the Steelers just made the decision to put him on ice for the rest of the season at a certain point and look toward next year. They certainly can use him if he decides to show up in 2024.
