With the Steelers’ defensive line under the microscope, Keeanu Benton faces heavy expectations going into his third season. A 2023 second-round pick, he hasn’t quite reached the levels of play hoped for by now. As a result, Year 3 is a crucial one for him, not for the least of which reason being money. After this season, he will be due for an extension, after all.
Asked on 93.7 The Fan which third-year defender in Joey Porter Jr. or Keeanu Benton has to take a bigger jump for the Steelers’ defense to succeed, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette chose the defensive lineman. While both 2023 second-round picks had slightly disappointing sophomore seasons, Benton’s position group seemed to suffer more.
“I’m gonna say Keeanu Benton, just because there’s a lot of question marks still on this defensive line”, Fittipaldo said. “Sometimes it’s not smart to count on rookies. Keeanu Benton enters this training camp as your second-best defensive lineman. I think he has to start playing that way. I’m not blaming him. But I’m just saying overall that defensive line was a big disappointment towards the end of the season”.
Outside of Cameron Heyward, the Steelers have no “proven commodities” along the defensive line. And Heyward is well into his mid-30s, even if he can still play at a high level. At some point in the near future, his quality of play will drop, and he will retire. While the Steelers just drafted Derrick Harmon in the first round, they need more. They need Keeanu Benton to step up and be a difference maker, too.
Up to this point in his career, I don’t think we can say that he has been. Now, that isn’t quite as easy to do from the nose tackle position, granted. While Benton can win at the line of scrimmage, he has struggled to finish plays, by his own admission. That was his stated goal going into last season, and he did not achieve that goal.
It’s gotten to the point that some on the outside are beginning to assess him differently, retrospectively. Fittipaldo’s colleague, Brian Batko, is among them, suggesting in hindsight that he was “more of a nuts-and-bolts pick”. Or meat and potatoes, or whatever phrase you want to use. Benton is, in other words, a guy who will get the job done, but without a lot of flash or fanfare.
I don’t think it’s unfair for Fittipaldo to say that Benton needs to start playing as if he is the second-best player on a defensive line that includes a potential future Hall of Famer. While he is their second-best lineman, or at least has been, on how many other lines would that be true?
