Steelers: What to expect from Keeanu Benton on defense
The Pittsburgh Steelers are not only focusing on the future, but they are playing the long game in the NFL Draft, evident by their 49th overall selection of Wisconsin defensive tackle Keeanu Benton. Benton is your typical one technique with a 6'4'', 309-pound frame. But he's an atypical athlete given his just over 5-second 40-yard […]
The Pittsburgh Steelers are not only focusing on the future, but they are playing the long game in the NFL Draft, evident by their 49th overall selection of Wisconsin defensive tackle Keeanu Benton.
Benton is your typical one technique with a 6'4'', 309-pound frame. But he's an atypical athlete given his just over 5-second 40-yard dash and nearly 30 inch vertical.
The Steelers know the defensive line is amonst the strongest units on the team, but they also know that teams inn this league win within the trenches, making depth a crucial factor when determining roster strategy.
Benton is no amateur when it comes to playing in an odd front, a scheme that the Steelers defense runs where only three down linemen hold the front of the unit up along the interior.
The Wisconisn Badgers ran the same type of defense and played Benton at what we call "true nose" or head up on the center, a position that requires players to do the dirty work on defense.
Often times, they have to eat up double teams and be a two-gapping presence so the two inside linebackers behind them can play free, roaming the secondary level of the defense.
But that doesn't mean Benton will exclusively play this position, as he is about 10-20 pounds lighter than typical nose tackles while being much more athletic.
Instead, he could very well play the role that former fellow Big-10 defensive lineman and new teammate Cam Heyward plays, as the heavy three-technique who plays in between the tackle and guard.
Now that doesn't mean the Steelers are planning to move on from Heyward, but the star veteran is 33 years old and despite his high level play as of recent, he won't wear black and gold forever.
That makes this choice smart for multiple reasons. For one it solidifies depth at a key position and two, it allows for a seamless transition when Heyward does decide to hang up his cleats.
So good on Pittsburgh for making this pick. Benton has some defencies in his game to clean up, but who better to learn from than of the league's best defensive lineman and spitting image of the player that Benton hopes to become?
