Entering his second NFL season, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Keeanu Benton is expected to take a sizable step forward.
As a rookie, Benton showed promising flashes of being a dominant pass rusher and a serviceable run defender, playing nearly 500 snaps as a rookie. Now, entering Year 2 with that experience under his belt, the sky is the limit for the former second-round pick out of Wisconsin.
In fact, Pro Football Focus expects Benton to have a huge second season, naming him to its 2024 All-Breakout Team Wednesday morning.
Benton is one of two interior defenders on the All-Breakout team, joined by Green Bay’s Karl Brooks.
“Benton was inconsistent in run defense last year but still recorded six PFF-run-defense game grades above 70.0,” PFF’s Gordon McGuinness writes. “He should be able to improve on that in his second NFL season. He was a useful pass-rusher, too, notching an 8.5% pressure rate.”
McGuinness writing that Benton “should be able to improve” seems like a bit of an understatement, considering the talent that Benton showed as a rookie.
Coming out of Wisconsin, Benton was expected to be a rotational piece early for the Steelers in the trenches. But once standout defensive lineman and team captain Cameron Heyward went down with a groin injury early in Week 1, the kid gloves were off for Benton, who was forced into a much larger role.
That increase in playing time and role didn’t faze Benton, who looked like a legitimate building block defensively for the Steelers. He played 483 snaps defensively in 2023 and finished with a 74.8 overall grade from PFF.
Along with his 74.8 overall grade, he graded out at 57.4 against the run but had a sparkling 80.0 as a pass rusher. Benton generated 22 pressures on the year and really flashed an impressive club/swim move that allowed him to win time and time again on the interior. He also had an impressive bull rush, displaying the eye-opening power that was his calling card at Wisconsin.
With Heyward back for another season in Pittsburgh, and pieces like Montravius Adams and Dean Lowry in place for the 2024 season, Benton should be able to settle nicely at the nose tackle position in base defense. He also realistically should be able to push a veteran like Larry Ogunjobi for playing time in sub-package football as he continues to develop.
Head coach Mike Tomlin stated shortly after the conclusion of the 2023 season that Benton has the chance to be dominant sooner rather than later, while Heyward also believes the future is very bright for the young defensive lineman.
Should he see more than 500 snaps and get more playing time in sub-package football with an opportunity to really get after the passer and disrupt on the interior, Benton should break out in a major way in 2024 and really assert himself as a big-name player along the Steelers’ defensive line.
