Breiden Fehoko is just back in town, but he’s already impressed with the Steelers’ rookie defensive line draft selections. He met both first-rounder Derrick Harmon and fifth-rounder Yahya Black and shared his humorous first impressions of both. While he hopes to stick around himself, he sees a bright future for the young bucks.
“I mean, that rookie’s big as shit”, Fehoko said of Black, the second of the Steelers’ defensive line draft picks. “I stood next to him today—Yahya. I told [Teryl Austin], I said, ‘Get this guy away from me. I feel like I’m 5-5 standing next to this guy’. It’s crazy how big these rookies are now, and the way they make them”. He also joked that Harmon “nearly broke” his hand during a handshake and told him basically to respect his elders.
More importantly, Fehoko also shared his observations on how the defensive line and the rookies have performed so far. “Really good guys. I can see the group”, he said, noting he has watched the practice footage. “These guys were popping pads. You can tell the emphasis on physicality’s there with the guys they’ve brought in. I’m just happy to work with them and be a lending hand with whatever they need”.
After watching the Ravens bully their defensive line, the Steelers decided to make significant changes. They released veterans Larry Ogunjobi and Montravius Adams and turned to the draft for reinforcements. After largely bypassing free agency, they used their first-round pick on Derrick Harmon. And when Yahya Black fell to them in the fifth round, they couldn’t say no to the big-bodied defensive tackle.
Karl Dunbar, in charge of the Steelers’ defensive line, already effectively revealed that Harmon will start. He is serving as the starter during training camp, anyway, so it’s not exactly a mystery. And they really don’t have any other tempting options, even if Daniel Ekuale has some starting experience. He started last year basically when the Patriots didn’t have anyone else to turn to.
The Steelers do have options on their defensive line now, or at least depth. I wouldn’t really describe any of them as “starters in waiting”, though, with Black having the best chance to succeed. When they drafted the pair, they expressed hopes Harmon and Black would play a long time together.
Their draft class, of course, wasn’t just about now, but for the future, as well. The Steelers know they will need to upgrade the defensive line when Cameron Heyward retires in the near future. While they hope they have two stalwarts in place in Harmon and Keeanu Benton, they have to prove it, first.
Harmon and Black passed the first test in pads, or so it seems, based on Fehoko’s study of the Steelers’ defensive line. That also seems to be corroborated by our own eyes in training camp, Alex Kozora.
