Keeanu Benton has looked like he’s trending in the right direction for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year. Last year, he looked like he could be a building block along the defensive line for years to come. Now, he could be blossoming in front of our eyes.
However, very few players come into the NFL and are immediately ready to play. Almost everyone has a moment where they realize just how much better NFL players are versus college players. Benton’s moment happened to come not in a game, but rather in training camp.
“Mason Cole, I link up with him, I was getting one-on-one blocks with him,” Benton said recently on The Arthur Moats Experience. “I’m like, I can handle this. We get into team period, I come off the [ball], I hit him, and I got a good pop on him, got extension.
“Next thing you know, I’m getting chipped on the hip and thrown three gaps over, and I’m like, ‘Holy shit.’ [Kevin] Dotson came down on that hip and tossed me. I was in the air; it looked so bad on film.”
Dotson was a guard with the Steelers from 2020-2022, getting traded to the Los Angeles Rams during training camp last year. He and Benton probably didn’t get much work together, but it sounds like Dotson left an impression. He just got a massive deal from the Rams, proving his worth, so it makes sense he would give Benton issues.
It’s better to have that moment in training camp than in a game though. It’s still probably embarrassing, but training camp is the perfect time to make those mistakes. Benton was selected in the second round of the 2023 draft, so the Steelers probably didn’t expect him to be perfect immediately. However, he did surpass expectations.
Benton ended up starting nine games during his rookie year, but that’s mostly because Cam Heyward missed a chunk of the season with an injury. It was an unfortunate situation, but it opened the door for Benton to prove he had learned from training camp.
Benton also may have gotten a win back against Dotson later. Last year, the Steelers played the Rams, meaning Benton and Dotson were playing each other. It’s unclear if they faced each other for the entire game, but Benton did win a rep against Dotson. He didn’t get a sack, but he did finish with two hits on the quarterback.
When it comes to welcome-to-the-NFL moments, Benton’s certainly could’ve been worse. Everyone takes their licks, but the important part is how they bounce back from defeat. So far this year, Benton has looked like an ascending player, and hopefully that continues. Maybe sometime in the future he can get another crack at Dotson too.
