The Steelers will host a fascinating prospect on the defensive line on Monday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex for a Top-30 pre-draft visit.
Wisconsin defensive lineman Keeanu Benton is in Pittsburgh on Monday for a Top-30 pre-draft visit. Benton is a player that the Steelers are apparently extremely interested in up to this point. They not only have shown interest now in a pre-draft visit, but he visited with the Steelers multiple times during the Senior Bowl and they had a formal meeting at the NFL Combine. All of that continues a strong set of interests that continues forward with Benton.
As a Wisconsin defensive lineman in Jim Leonhard’s scheme, the scheme is extremely similar to what the Steelers run, so Benton could slide right into the scheme and give Pittsburgh some quality reps in his rookie season. He played with Steelers DL Isaiahh Loudermilk on the defensive line at Wisconsin, so there is so much familiarity for the team with a guy like Benton.
Over his career in Madison, Benton only registered 9 career sacks. But with a combination of a twitchy first step and powerful hands, Benton turned into a buzzsaw at the National team’s practices at the Senior Bowl. He then parlayed that into a strong combine where he continued his upward momentum throughout the entire process.
This, along with Gervon Dexter, is one of the known Top-3o visits that Pittsburgh has had with defensive linemen. It is not a deep draft at the position for guys that the Steelers would like, so for guys like Benton, this visit means a lot to the Steelers’ interest in them.
Benton’s a nose tackle that did primarily focus on stopping the run, but he terrorized opponents the moment he got to pin his ears back and go after the quarterback. A guy with true nose tackle potential, Benton sports a stout frame that is slightly undersized, but he makes up for it with fantastic length and burst.