Steelers Draft Grades: Logan Lee Needs Defined Role in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to Logan Lee to become part of the future at the defensive line position, but his odd fit with the team is reminiscent of DeMarvin Leal in some ways. A tweener, Lee played over the B-Gap and outside in the Iowa defense but likely projects as a 5-technique who can bump into a 3-technique in the Steelers system. With that in mind, he will have to add some weight to play in the manner Karl Dunbar described.

“I think he’s a defensive end,” Dunbar said. “When I mean defensive end, I mean he can play anywhere from the 5-technique to the 0-technique. Because he’s that kind of guy. He has the girth at 295 pounds to play outside because he has a little speed but he mostly an interior guy in our 3-4 packages.”

A model of consistency, Lee started 40 consecutive games over his final three seasons for the Hawkeyes, with remarkably consistent production. 

He had 48 tackles, five tackles for a loss and three sacks in 2021; 54 tackles, eight tackles for loss and three sacks in 2022; and 55 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and three sacks in 2023. He was a two-time All-Big Ten selection. So, there are some accolades and Lee brings about a hot motor that allows him to stuff the stat sheet.

For anyone who will be a rotational lineman, it feels like that is almost a requisite trait that needs to be there, and Lee certainly passes the test. However, his fit with the team is a bit murky, and while he has some quickness and twitch of the line of scrimmage, Lee does not have elite power. He has a few moves, notably a chop-swim and chop-rip, that he goes to exceptionally often. They work well, and he offers some upside as a pass rusher.

At 6-foot-5 and 281 pounds, with 32 1/4-inch arms. He ran a 5.05-second 40-yard dash, 4.37-second shuttle and 7.16-second three-cone drill, and posted a vertical jump of 31.5 inches and a broad jump of 9-foot-6 inches. He has a total Relative Athletic Score of 9.20 out of 10. The athletic gifts are there, but the explosiveness on tape is not so apparent that it knocks your socks off.

However, the Steelers needed to come out of the draft with someone who could offer some upside in the pass rush department and someone who works more as that 3-technique. In other words, this offers much of a replacement to Leal or someone in that vein for competition in training camp. I have some questions about his fit, but Lee does offer traits that landed him in this spot and infatuated the Steelers draft brass.

Grade: C+