The NFL game is changing. And DC Teryl Austin says it changes not just schematics, but the personnel the Pittsburgh Steelers use, too. Allowing nearly 500 rushing yards over the past two games, 2024’s Wild Card loss and 2025’s regular season opener, there are calls for Pittsburgh to have an old-school nose tackle. Austin says that might not be the wisest thing.
“You could, but then it’s the same thing in terms of amount of snaps,” Austin told reporters Thursday via a team-provided transcript. “If you’re going to play 80-percent of your game in nickel because they’re in 11 personnel and then you have a guy that could be your starting nose tackle that’s going to play maybe 10 snaps a game, is that worth it?”
As we charted last year, Pittsburgh used the least amount of base 3-4 defense it has in years. They deployed a base formation just 26.7-percent of the time, the lowest since we began tracking this data back in 2015. In a world where pass rush is important and requires athletes to chase the screen game and mobile quarterbacks, the Steelers and the rest of the NFL have gotten smaller and faster defensively. But as football cyclically moves back to a ground-and-pound attack, defenses are scrambling to catch up.
For a gameday roster that doesn’t even dress all 53 players, maximizing snaps is key in Austin’s mind. It squeezes out the run-stuffing nose tackle of yesteryear.
“We may need it at another position. I think, sometimes that goes into the big picture that sometimes guys don’t see, that we may want to have that guy up but we can’t have it up because we may have added injury. We need another special teams guy, we need another defensive back, we need another receiver, whoever it may be. Because of the lack of snaps, somebody else has to absorb it, so you can’t keep that specialized guy up sometimes.”
These are trade-offs and decisions Pittsburgh makes on a weekly basis. In my offseason conversation, former Steelers’ NT Breiden Fehoko shared Mike Tomlin told him Fehoko couldn’t get elevated because of the numbers game. Fehoko potentially playing just a handful of snaps in a game couldn’t justify taking someone else’s spot, who is likely to play more. At the same time, stopping the run is foundational and fundamental to Pittsburgh playing winning defense, something they haven’t done enough in the last several games.
If Pittsburgh wants to go old-school up front, another player doesn’t need to dress. Rookie Yahya Black or veteran Daniel Ekuale better fit the mold of a run-plugger. Black is 336 pounds with tons of strength and plus athleticism for his size. He presents a unique combination, with loose shades of Kenny Clark, Christian Wilkins, or Dexter Lawrence. Ekuale is a true one-note run stuffer and the current backup nose tackle. Against New York, he logged just three of 20 snaps in Pittsburgh’s base 3-4. The Steelers have been open to playing Black in the middle, but so far, his work has only come at defensive end.
No matter the personnel, scheme, or reason, the Steelers must get back to stopping the run. Otherwise, a rough start will turn into a long season with an offense that won’t bail them out every time. Austin is asking if a nose tackle is worth it. Steelers’ Nation would currently offer a resounding ‘yes.’
