Draft prep 101: Potential draft picks speak to evolving look of Steelers defensive front
Each day this week, “Breakfast With Benz” will get you ready for this month’s NFL Draft by posting daily “Draft 101” podcasts. Former NFL and college scout and current Steelers Nation Radio host Matt Williamson joins Tim Benz for daily podcasts breaking down draft-eligible players in different position groups.
Tuesday looks at the available talent in the defensive front seven.
Before we ask what front-seven players the Pittsburgh Steelers might like in the draft, we have to ask what their front seven has truly become.
They are only in the 3-4 base defense 25% of the time these days. So the need for a pure nose tackle has been minimized. The traditional ask of the three defensive ends to be stout against the run and occupy blockers for the linebackers to make plays still exists. But as often as anything else, they are pushing the middle of the pocket in the passing game in a 4-3 defensive tackle sense. And the inside linebackers need to be just as adequate in coverage as they are stopping the run, instead of pass coverage skills being a bonus.
You can see the Steelers’ eye level moving with the club’s decision to draft DeMarvin Leal in the third round last year. His 6-foot-4, 289-pound frame is intriguing. But it’s clear the Steelers are still trying to figure out what role he has in their defense. Because in an average game, when healthy (Leal missed six games last season), Leal still only played 27% of the snaps.
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That’s probably because he is not lithe, athletic and explosive enough to be an outside linebacker in a 3-4 system (to say nothing of the pass coverage responsibilities) in the mold of a T.J. Watt or Alex Highsmith and still maybe not sturdy enough to handle line-of-scrimmage battles in the run like Larry Ogunjobi and Cameron Heyward.
Yet, based on who the Steelers have been eyeballing in pre-draft scouting, it’s obvious they are inclined to bring more players on board who have frames like Leal.
For instance, they went to Iowa’s Pro Day to check out — among others — Lukas Van Ness. He’s a 6-foot-5, 275-pound edge who ESPN.com has ranked as the 11th-best prospect in the draft. So, size-wise, that’s somewhere between Watt and Leal.
“If you brought him in, he would be a bull in the china shop disrupter,” Williamson told us in our Tuesday “Draft 101” podcast. “I think he is a more athletic, slightly bigger version of Bud Dupree coming out of school. A run-through-you guy. A power player. But he bends and changes directions better than Bud. And I wonder, if they were to add him, would it be with the Aaron Smith plan in place — where, kind of like Leal, he is disruptive his rookie year. You keep putting on weight. He has the length. Maybe he gets up to 290 and turns into an Aaron Smith-type player with more athleticism.”
Yet Williamson still wonders if the Steelers would be trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole with Van Ness.
.@HawkeyeFootball's @lukas_vanness moves so smooth.
????: #NFLCombine on @nflnetwork
????: Stream on NFL+ pic.twitter.com/UlJ9AOgG15— NFL (@NFL) March 2, 2023
“That’s a little bit too much projection for me to say, ‘turn in the card at (pick number) 17. Because he does have to play a position. I am a believer in positionless football. But in the end, he has to have a trump card. And I’m not sure what that is for Pittsburgh,” Williamson said.
Another player of that ilk from the Big Ten that the Steelers interacted with at Ohio State’s Pro Day was 6-foot-6, 272 pound lineman Zach Harrison. If you are looking for more of a traditional fit in the Heyward, Ogunjobi, Smith, Stephon Tuitt box, Williamson has one for you.
No. Not Georgia’s Jalen Carter. He’ll be gone before pick No.17 despite some off-field issues.
“The guy that most reminds me of Cam Heyward and that style of player is Clemson’s Bryan Bresee,” Williamson explained.
????DT - Bryan Bresee - Clemson????
• 6’5”, 305 lbs, 21 yrs old
+ Nations No. 1 recruit in 2020
+ Explosive player & pushes pocket
+ Maintains his run fits
• ACL tear in Sept 2021 & shoulder surgery in Jan 2022. Best football could be ahead of him ????#NFLDraft2023 pic.twitter.com/m8UsobnEMf— Hogg (@HoggNFL) February 22, 2023
“He’s extremely high character. A leader. A power player like Cam that they will even line up outside the tackle. They’ll line him up all over the defensive line. He does the dirty work.”
Also, in Tuesday’s podcast, Williamson dives into some specialized nose tackle options. We also have some prototype 3-4 outside linebackers for Round 3 and beyond. Plus, despite signing two free agents at inside linebacker, we look at that position as a second-day possibility for the Steelers.
Listen: Tim Benz and Matt Williamson talk Steelers draft — front seven
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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