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Keeanu Benton is ready to make a leap for the Steelers.
Each year, a new crop of players rises to the ranks of the elite at their respective positions. Whether it be because of new coaching, being unlocked in a new scheme or just the general continuation of development and growth, new players establish their place in the upper echelon of the NFL every year. Over the next few days, we’ll be highlighting these players who are up next in the NFL hierarchy, and are candidates for a breakout season in 2024.
When old folks talk about “biblical strength”, they’re talking about Keeanu Benton. The second-year defensive tackle from Wisconsin can play the three-technique, but is best suited as one of the most athletic nose tackles and one-techniques in the league. Where Benton wins right now is being a math changer in the run game and using his blend of power and quickness to cross interior linemen’s faces in passing situations.
Among all defensive tackles with ten or more tackles in the run game, Benton was 7th in Positive Play Rate allowed at 32.7%. That means that while Benton is on the field in the run game, opposing offenses only have a successful play 32.7% of the time. In addition, when Benton is on the field for the Steelers, their run game allows positive plays 28% of the time, compared to 35% when Benton is off the field. He’s a gifted run defender in the middle of the Steelers defense, and one that’s getting even better.
Benton is a violent run defender, using his upper body strength to uproot opposing linemen and free up linebackers and other players to make tackles. Here, he’s head up on center Mitch Morse against the Bills in the playoffs, and Buffalo is trying to run split zone. Benton makes Morse do the Spinaroonie and clogs the lane RB James Cook was attempting to run into. He’s not credited with the tackle, but you can see his impact on the run game. Morse sure felt it, too.
Where Pittsburgh used Benton in a really fun way is by “tilting” him before the snap in his alignment. Hearkening back to the days of Mean Joe Green in the middle of the Steelers’ DL, “tilting” a defensive linemen means to basically angle your defensive tackle directly into the gap. Instead of his whole body being directly opposite the offensive lineman, this is what the Steelers would do with Benton:
Benton was a terror in these tilted fronts mainly because of his terrifying blend of short-area quickness and power. When he can get off the ball quickly, he completely wrecks shop in these areas. Here he’s angled into the A-gap against the Cardinals, and he single-handedly destroys the whole play. When you have a defensive tackle who can do this on a snap-by-snap basis, it makes running a defense so much easier, and it looks cool as hell too.
What’s tantalizing about Benton is his pass rush potential. Finding true three-down nose tackles is extremely hard to find, with the Giants’ Dexter Lawrence setting the standard for a three-down nose tackle who can flip games in both facets. While his pressure rate of 7.6% and 18 pressures aren’t exactly dominant, he showed flashes of being a dynamic pass rusher from the interior, especially when he’s head up over a center. When lined up as a 0 or 1-technique, Benton finished 2023 with a 9.0% pressure rate, good for 14th in the NFL among players with a minimum of five pressures from that alignment.
Where he wins in the pass rush department is when he can match the power in his hands with the burst off the snap. He has a nasty club move that not only gets himself a free run at the QB, but makes the opposing center look absolutely stupid. His one sack he finished 2023 with was a beauty against the Raiders, sending C Andre James to the shadow realm. He normally finishes off his club move with a swim, taking his massive arms over the unsuspecting linemen on his way to the QB. If he can consistently put this stuff together, he truly becomes a force in the middle for Pittsburgh:
Benton loves that club-swim combination, and one of the things that makes it work is his lateral quickness. At the NFL Combine, Benton posted a 7.34 3-cone drill time, putting him in the 80th percentile for all interior defensive linemen. This translates to the field because you see his ability to quickly change directions and momentum when he goes for the club move. It’s as much about power as it is lateral change of direction, and Benton has both of those built into his body of work. Again, he’s over the nose here and simply discards the center, forcing a quick throw.
The Steelers have high expectations for Benton going into year two. After a full NFL offseason and training, head coach Mike Tomlin is excited about Benton’s future (per The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo): “I’m really excited about the prospects of his future,” Tomlin said in his season-ending news conference. “He’s really talented. I think he’s capable of being dominant sooner rather than later. Where Benton can improve is in finishing the sacks after creating pressure. Only one sack despite the amount of pressure he gets has to improve going into 2024, and he could use more clubs in the golf bag to work with as a pass rusher. However, with the production starting to come and the athleticism to match, Benton is going to be a force in years to come.
