As most of the other members of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 NFL Draft class have generated quite a bit of buzz this offseason and throughout training camp, defensive lineman Logan Lee has done much of what he did in college: fly under the radar.
In a good way.
While Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier, Mason McCormick, Payton Wilson, Ryan Watts and Roman Wilson have garnered plenty of attention and generated headlines, Lee has been rather quiet. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t been productive or drawn the attention of coaches.
Coming out of the preseason opener against the Houston Texans last week, Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin was pleased with the performance Lee had in his NFL debut, showing the ability to move around the defensive front and hold his own.
“Logan did well, he’s a strong kid, smart kid,” Austin said, according to the transcript provided by the team. “You probably shouldn’t be surprised with the amount people that sit down and get dinged up. It’s a testament to his readiness that he’s able to play any position along the line as a young guy. He can play nose, he can play four. He did a good job in there.
“He’s pretty stout and you’ll see that sometimes that guys come down, they don’t really knock him out or knock him off the ball, so that’s a good start for him. I think once he gets his feet under him and learns he’ll have the ability to possibly contribute.”
Following his time at Iowa, Lee’s football IQ, work ethic and ability to play up and down the line of scrimmage were strong suits of his coming out of the Big Ten. Though he was just a bit undersized from a weight standpoint, measuring in at 281 pounds at the Combine, Lee had some good tape at Iowa, which intrigued the Steelers.
Since joining the Steelers, Lee has seemingly been forgotten about a bit in a defensive line room that has some big names and has had some younger players step up this offseason, including third-year pro DeMarvin Leal and veteran Montravius Adams, the latter building off a strong 2023 season.
Lee finds himself buried on the depth chart a bit, but he took advantage of his opportunity against the Texans and played well.
Though Pro Football Focus graded him out at a 52.4 overall against the Texans, including a 53.8 against the run and a 54.9 as a pass rusher in 24 snaps, Austin was pleased with the rookie’s performance.
Lee moved all over the formation in 24 snaps, lining up on the left and right side in split fashion while even seeing nine snaps at nose tackle in the loss to the Texans.
When you think of Lee, you don’t exactly think of a nose tackle, but he more than held his own at the position in the loss to the Texans. He finished with just one assisted tackle, but the work moving around the defensive front and the willingness to do whatever was asked of him caught Austin’s attention.
There’s still a long way to go for Lee when it comes to carving out a spot on the 53-man roster. But there is plenty of intrigue there from Austin, which is good news for Lee.
