The Pittsburgh Steelers made two pretty significant additions to their defense during free agency in March with a pair of former Baltimore Ravens in Patrick Queen and DeShon Elliott. You would maybe think that players coming over from a division rival could take some time to assimilate into the locker room, but it seems like both players have been a perfect fit among the group early in the process.
“Those are good guys, and I feel like the head man does a great job of bringing guys in here that are alike,” Benton said in a video posted by Post-Gazette Sports on YouTube. “I feel like they blend in perfectly. They’re finding their role, and everybody came in with the same intentions and that’s to grind and win.”
The Steelers’ draft class was full of guys who fit perfectly into the blue-collar, hard-nosed mentality that the team and the city are known for. It is an intentional effort by the Steelers as they scout players to ensure they are a team fit both with their play and their personalities.
Zach Crockett spoke a little about this in one of the pre-draft episodes of The Standard on the Steelers’ team website.
“Look at the film, look at the player, make sure you know they got the heart, and they love it,” Crockett said on what he looks for in evaluations.
The hearts and smarts component of the evaluation process is important to the team, and that shows even with its free agent additions.
If you think back to Patrick Queen’s qualm with Tomlin prior to joining the team in which he was told “you’re not a Raven,” we can reflect on that in hindsight as Tomlin wanting him in Pittsburgh all along. And to later find out that Queen turned down less money to come to Pittsburgh because it is a great organization with great coaches, that just adds to the picture of who he is as a person and a competitor.
As for Elliott, he opened his introductory press conference pointing to the Steelers logo behind him and said, “This is real football.” He is clearly bought into the physical brand of football that the team wants to play on defense.
It is May and these players won’t be remembered for how well they fit in before they ever played a snap for the team, but it is another positive indication for the trajectory of the group overall. Including the culture of the team that had a rough spot or two in the 2023 season.
