There’s no replacing Cam Heyward, that’s clear. But the “next man up” mentality is a constant in the NFL. And it’ll take a village for the Pittsburgh Steelers to cover for such a consistently dominant presence.
During Mike Tomlin’s weekly press conference, he highlighted the players he expects to step up in Heyward’s absence, however long that’ll be.
1
Isaiahh Loudermilk
Isaiahh Loudermilk, a 2021 fifth-round selection out of Wisconsin, has played in 27 games with five starts. After Heyward’s exit, he contributed two defended passes and an assisted tackle.
I’ve been really impressed by the growth and development and what those guys have shown me throughout team development, not only (DeMarivn) Leal and (Isaiahh) Loudermilk, but but younger guys are like (Keeanu) Steelers place CB Ahkello Witherspoon on IR, activate DE DeMarvin LealBenton and others. I thought that was one of the strengths of our group coming out of team development, the depth and competition in the tough decisions that we had to make in the defensive line. It won’t be a long period of time before we get a chance to call upon that. And so we’ll get a chance to to see what that depth looks like in play.
2
DeMarvin Leal
Third-round 2022 NFL draftee DeMarvin Leal has suited up in 12 games with two starts. As a rookie, he defended three passes and contributed 17 tackles (two for loss). In Week 1, he posted two solo tackles, one assist and two stops, per Pro Football Focus. He also had a hit on 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy on Sunday.
3
Keeanu Benton
In the preseason (games one and three), rookie Keeanu Benton played in 48 snaps (17 run, 31 pass), logging three solo tackles, an assist, three stops and one quarterback hit.
Benton’s debut performance carried over from the preseason and gave a glimpse as to why the Steelers took him at No. 49 overall (another Wisconsin guy). Though a small sample size, he’s shown characteristics and technique of a Casey Hampton-Javon Hargrave combo. It’s too early to say he’s the second coming of Hargrave, but all signs are pointing up as he looked like the best player in the defensive front in Week 1.
Benton is tons of fun… I'm used to my Steelers NT looking like Casey Hampton and sitting at the LOS. New era in Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/8wrWIt6kiw
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) September 11, 2023
4
Armon Watts
Veteran defensive lineman Armon Watts came to the Steelers in the spring as a free agent. He played 17 games (12 starts) for the Chicago Bears in 2022 after spending three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, where he was a sixth-round draft pick in 2019.
In 57 career games, he’s logged a defended pass, three forced fumbles, 8.0 sacks, 125 tackles (seven for loss) and 15 quarterback hits.
In the preseason, Watts played in 62 snaps (20 run, 42 pass) and logged a tackle and five total pressures, per Pro Football Focus.
Watts was inactive for Week 1, so it’ll be interesting to see whether he’s in Monday night’s lineup.
He’s certainly is a guy that’s under consideration. He’s a guy that brought veteran experience, played a lot of ball in Chicago a year ago. I thought he really warmed up to our environment because he got a sense of what we were about and what we were asking and and that’s why we continue to do business with him. But there’s a reason he’s been inactive type man. He’s continually, continually getting up to snuff with what it is that we do and technically and in the nuances and the detail and so forth. And he had a good week last week and we’ll see where that leads us this week in terms of making decisions about who we use and how we divide the labor up. But certainly he’s under consideration. He’s a veteran guy that’s played some ball and that’s why we kept him on our 53.
