Mike Tomlin Raves About Keeanu Benton’s Versatility, Downplays Steelers Need at Defensive Line
PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Pittsburgh Steelers have a significant need on the defensive line after moving on from Larry Ogunjobi earlier this offseason. The club has signed Daniel Ekuale to a one-year contract, but needs a significant investment in the position with Ekuale only here on a one-year deal and veteran star Cam Heyward getting older.
If the Steelers don’t land a top-tier defensive tackle in the draft, nose tackle Keeanu Benton’s versatility could come in handy.
“He has versatility, but that’s why we took him that high, particularly in today’s game, [there’s] not a lot of nose [tackle] play in today’s game, based on matchups and so forth,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said at the NFL owner’s meetings. “I think we spend about 80% of our time in sub-package football. And so, his versatility is an asset to him and us where he’s not reduced by offensive personnel that’s potentially on the field or not.”
Tomlin also downplayed the Steelers need of a defensive lineman in the draft.
“You know, I think that we’re open to acquiring good players at all positions, and I don’t know that we’ve placed a pecking order, if you will, on positional needs as we sit here today,” Tomlin said. “I’m not saying that we won’t, I’m just saying that there’s a lot of time between now and the draft, and oftentimes the information that we collect between now and then, whether it’s us or the needs of other people or the depths of the pools at the positions, a lot of things go into to weighing the ‘need’ component, and so we’re just not there yet.”
Tomlin raved about the acquisition of veteran defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale.
“This is a guy that really plays blocks and recognizes run schemes extremely well. I expect him to be an anchor point for us in that regard to control the line of scrimmage particularly in run down circumstances, and I think his resume really reflects that,” Tomlin said.
Steelers general manager Omar Khan also thinks the sky’s the limit for Ekuale.
“I like the group we have. We did sign [Daniel] Ekuale,“ Khan said. ”He’s done some really good things.”
Las Vegas Raiders general manager Mike Mayock thinks the Steelers should select Texas A&M defensive lineman Shemar Stewart at 21st overall.
“It really comes down to height, weight, speed, upside versus lack of production in college. I was at the Senior Bowl, his body’s beautiful, he’s got all that stuff, but four-and-a-half sacks in a career – not good. He’s a little bit of a project because I don’t think he’s an instinctual pass rusher. He’s going to have to be taught how to rush a quarterback. Over time, he has a chance to be really, really good,” Mayock said.
“If Pittsburgh didn’t take a quarterback at 21 for whatever reason, I think he would make sense there. I’ve heard some top-10 grades on him and Carolina at No. 8 is the earliest I could see. The teams who love their defensive line coach, who think they’ve got a guy that can bring out the best in players, they’re the kind of teams who would lean towards taking a chance with this guy.”
Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Palm Beach, Fla.