With other more pressing needs for the Pittsburgh Steelers to fill in the 2024 NFL Draft, the defensive line has flown under the radar. Yet the team brought in for pre-draft visits six defensive linemen ranging from Day 1 prospects all the way to guys they could target with one of their two sixth-round picks. If they don’t address the position this year, it will become arguably the top need in the 2025 offseason. Cameron Heyward is turning 35 in just a couple weeks, and Larry Ogunjobi has not lived up to the pricey extension he received last offseason. Isaiahh Loudermilk and DeMarvin Leal haven’t shown anything to suggest they have a long-term future with the team.
In Ty Dunne’s Go Long substack, Bob McGinn posted a defensive line article with blurbs from several unnamed scouts around the league on various DL prospects. One scout sees Oregon DE Brandon Dorlus as a fit with the Steelers.
“He’s really competitive. Not really a quick-twitch guy. When he’s on the edge he’s real strong and stout. He can do all that, but the pass rush is not there (outside). You put him inside and he’s better as a pass rusher, but he’s not as stout,” McGinn wrote via an unnamed scout. “He might be a 3-4 guy somebody like Pittsburgh or the Ravens will just play in there messing things up.”
Dorlus measured in at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine at 6030, 283 pounds, with 33 1/4-inch arms. He ran an impressive 4.85-second 40-yard dash and had a solid vertical of 30 1/2 inches.
He ended his five seasons at Oregon with 108 total tackles, 58 solo tackles, 27 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, and 14 passes defensed. He really stepped up his production batting balls down at the line of scrimmage in 2023 with nine PD.
For Alex Kozora’s study on Steelers draft trends at DE, Dorlus checks most of the boxes. He did not participate in the bench press and is about a half inch shorter than the Steelers prefer but hit every other mark. And what he lacks in height he makes up for with solid arm length.
“He doesn’t look the part,” one scout said of his body type. “He’s got really athletic hands and feet. He’s got some natural pass rush because of the hand and foot activity…He’s not really a glass-eater inside but he’s not super fast on the outside. He’s sort of a ‘tweener.”
Dorlus projects to go somewhere late on Day 2 of the draft. The Steelers have two picks in that range at No. 84 and No. 98, and that might be the sweet spot to address the defensive line, though these positionless “tweener” players sometimes slide down the board a bit, so maybe he could be had in the fourth round to present better value.
The Steelers didn’t demonstrate much interest in Dorlus throughout the pre-draft process, but that doesn’t necessarily preclude him from being one of their mid-round picks. Though his struggles as a run stuffer and his tweener body type could see the Steelers pass with eyes on better fits like LSU’s Maason Smith or Clemson’s Ruke Orhorhoro.
Check out our in-depth scouting report on Dorlus below.
