The Real Bust?.... Benton

Not my work but enjoy the read:

"In honor of an actually decent offensive performance, I figured I would watch the all 22 tape and shew, I would recommend that to anyone with NFL+. It is very much a tale of two games. My thoughts:

• Broderick Jones was nowhere near as bad as I thought he was when watching it live. He wasn't good by any stretch of the imagination, it's just that his mistakes ended in sacks (as you expect on the blind side) whereas the other linemen's mistakes were inconveniences or mitigated. He lost 6 battles that I could tell, though Seumalo fed him to the wolves on 2 of those. Of the 3 sacks, it looked like 1 was footwork, 1 was hands (that McDonald spin move was nasty), and 1 was pad height; so not the same issue over and over. Frazier and Seumalo both lost ~4 reps as well, they just were either runs or ARod got the rock out quick. Fautanu only got beat once that I could see. McCormick was really good.

• I'm no expert but the Jets were the best defense I've ever seen played against zone blocking. Seumalo, CAIII, DK chose 'the wrong' block a few times, but overall the Jets just had too many men in the gaps. They were east-west with the quickness- guessing that's what allowed AR to dice them up

• Keanu Benton was absolute trash, the entire game. He didn't win a single rep. Not one. And I don't mean he didn't get penetration or close two gaps- no, he got folded like wet laundry every single down. I've honestly never seen a Steelers d lineman play that poorly. They stopped double teaming him toward the end of the first half and he was still getting thrown around by a single lineman. The single tackle he's credited with came off cleaning up a TJ trip-up and Wilson was right there as well. Honestly the team's best defensive effort all game was the goal line series halfway through the 4th, and they pulled Benton out for the entire series, going with a 4 down front of Cam, Black, Loudermilk, and Ekuale. If I were TA I would be thinking hard about using a 4 front more often, if we're not going to have a nose that can close one gap, much less two.

• TJ has lost a step east-west, or he was deliberately moving slower to not get injured on that god forsaken field

• LOT of broken tackles. I think a lot of it was not technique related, but so many goddamn offensive lineman around the ball, especially in the 1.5/2nd level (BENTON!)

• Malik Harrison probably couldn't shed a block from a JV player, but he seemed to fill gaps pretty well

• Black wasn't great but he did get to the QB the same time as TJ, twice.

• PQ and Wilson are underrated. I think the only miss that PQ had was a step too slow in coverage of the Ruckert first down catch. Could teach masterclass on gap discipline, not that it matters when you have a free blocker coming through said gap (*cough BENTON cough*). He almost made coverage on that G Wilson almost-TD catch after JPJ completely borked his assignment. P Wilson got caught up in the zone wash a couple of times but otherwise great.

• Ramsey is a ****ing wizard. I'm not the best at diagnosing pre snap coverage shells, but where he lines up makes no sense and then he just ends up magically in tight coverage. Looks like they're running a lot of quarters with either JPJ or Ramsey in man.

• Slay missed one TFL on a corner blitz early then was super solid. Arguably should have been out wider for Field's walk in TD, but it looked like he thought TJ was going to slide out wider. He got burnt in man on the Wilson TD but then so did JPJ. Echols good too.

• Looks like the Pickens cancer has been purged. The only half assery I saw was ARod walking up after completed passes . Well, and Benton's existence."

 

Cam wasn’t great by any stretch of the imagination, but Benton was in fact terrible. He’s on the ground way too often. He’s not getting off blocks. He’s been truly disappointing for a while now. In a post game interview he talked about trying to do too much and not doing his job. Holy ****! This is his 4th year as a starter. Doing your job is football 001.

 

Good write-up, Bubba. Thanks for posting.

 

Good post. We're concerned about Jones but there's a reason I'm still hopeful overall. I'm not excusing anything, we know if he gets Aaron killed the season is over.

I hate Benton in the middle, it will not work, which doesn't excuse that he just might suck at DE now, too. I thought Black looked much better inside. Fingers crossed we get Harmon soon and he can improve the position.

If the front starts playing better - and Cam struggled, too - the back 7 should look a lot better.

 

I kept seeing some dude lying on the ground. Then he would roll over and sure enough the #95 showed on the jersey.

 

I was saying near the end of the first quarter in the game thread that Benton should be benched. Nobody listens to me.

 

There is a thread on Benton already.

 

Nobody?!


You must have forgotten that I cosigned your sentiment... though not to the point of being benched. Yahya Black should be playing NT; shortcomings or not. Black is only gonna improve with reps whereas Benton is a 5 Tech 3-4 DE as it stands.


Having him as a Zero Tech to One Tech is ridiculous.

 

I was saying all of that in the Game Thread as well.

 

I knew Benton was going to have a bad game after the very first play the Jets ran, If you watch Benton, he gets flattened and pushed out of the way like he was on skates. Not a good start and it never improved all day!

 

Benton isn't in the same galaxy as Wyatt so I don't think Kahn is losing sleep over his extension.

Steelers just got another reminder that Keeanu Benton won't come cheap
Story by Loyal Ricks Jr • 15h •

News travels quickly in the NFL. So when word broke of the Green Bay Packers' three-year $57 million extension with defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan was put back on the clock. Because now, the market value for defensive disruptors is rising.

And the Steelers still need to evaluate Keeanu Benton’s future.

Solidifying Wyatt was a smart move for Green Bay. The former first-round pick has earned 16 sacks through his first four seasons. He’s a proven quarterback hunter with a large interior presence. I know he’ll become an anchor for Jonathan Gannon’s unit. So the player is worth the investment.

Ironically, Benton has similar upside.

Physicality at the line of scrimmage is Pittsburgh’s calling card. And Keeanu Benton is becoming the anchor of the line. In 2025, he started at nose tackle in Terryl Austin’s defensive scheme. It was a promotion from being a rotational player in previous seasons. Luckily, the former Wisconsin Badger answered the call.

It’s been a slow but steady journey for the Steelers’ former second-round pick. Since 2023, Benton’s earned 7.5 sacks, with 5.5 coming during a strong campaign last season. His versatility and pass-rush ability are paramount for a defense looking to expand its identity. It opens the door for Benton to become a vital part of Patrick Graham’s creative new vision.

The Pittsburgh Steeler must act quickly to secure Keeanu Benton before DT market skyrockets
Figures become funny when negotiating long-term deals for unproven players. Sure, Benton’s worked his way into a starting role. But he’s yet to have the breakout season, leaving fans with a yearning for more. Don’t get me wrong, I believe there’s a role for Benton on the roster.

But how much is the spot worth?

Wyatt’s extension creates a soft blueprint for Khan’s to negotiate with Benton. The Green Bay defensive lineman will average roughly $19 million per year. It’s a reasonable price for the former first-round pick, and it may become the baseline if conversations are delayed.

When comparing the interior forces, I believe there are more similarities than differences. Both Benton (6’4”) and Wyatt (6’3”) are huge interior players and massive roadblocks for opposing offensive lines. Success in recent campaigns resulted in a new contract for Green Bay’s mauler.

The Steelers used Benton in multiple techniques. So where Wyatt shines in experience, Pittsburgh’s lineman recovers with versatility. It compensates even if stingy pockets refuse to see long-term potential. When evaluating value, I believe Benton is worth a similar deal. And the market will only increase as time passes.

 

What? Did somebody say something?

 

The previous defensive coordinator who was the head coach played Benton way out of his position. Nose tackle

 

Trenches have been a problem for Steelers for years. Particularly OT and interior DL. Many of the chronic problems for Steelers on offense and defense stem from being soft in the trenches.

 

Go back and review the Viking game where Benton completely dominated at the line of scrimmage; some of the reports said he was the MVP of the game.

Was he covering for Cam most of the game? Cam finished with all ZEROS on his tackle stat line.



I wonder what changed after September?

 

I hope the new staff moves him around and get him off of NT.

 

Re: Busts in General. I think maybe I have a different view of what a bust is than others? To be a bust, I think you really need to have high expectations to succeed. And probably very high draft capital. And I think you really need to totally flame out. I think Ryan Leaf is the poster boy for what I would call a bust.

But was Devin Bush a bust? He was a disappointment for us for sure. But probably because we wanted / needed him to jump right in and be Shazier. What was pretty unrealistic. And while he wasn't what we wanted him to be, he also didn't flame out. He's still playing in the league 7 years later (83% of snaps last year for CLE) and he's played 4200+ snaps on defense over his career. You'd certainly want more impact from someone drafted 10th overall. But I don't think he's a bust (even though the acquisition cost for use was much too high for what he delivered).

Re: Benton: I think Bust is too strong a word for Benton, but he's certainly been a disappointment.

He did seem to have his best year as a pro last year though. Hopefully, he can build on that this year and we have to seriously think about keeping him.

Personally, I'd probably like to try to do an extension this off-season and get him locked up on the cheap (or at least without much in the way of guarantees so we can bail easily if we want). He's not great, but he's at least a rotational player on the DL. And extending him means that we can use high picks next year to try to land a QB...without being totally screwed if Cam retires or can't play. In an ideal world, we'd have more real options on the roster at DL. But that's not where we are. And I assume we'll use our 1st (maybe more than that to trade up) for a QB next season. So it won't be easy to grab a good DL to replace him.

Re: Jones: I don't really think Jones is a bust either. To be a bust, I think you need to have pretty high (realistic) expectations. And Jones was a very raw guy coming out of college (fewer starts than Max) who was taken late in the first. He was a high risk / high reward selection. If he doesn't ever come back from this injury, then maybe he's a bust...but I also think of busts as being mostly player controllable things. For example, I don't think Shazier was a bust even though he never got a big 2nd contract.

I am more disappointed re: Jones than Benton. Jones had a higher acquisition cost. And has delivered less for the team than Benton. I also think that the arrow is pointing down right now for Jones (although that's injury too), where Benton is coming off his best season.

This might just be splitting hairs, but I don't think either of these guys are busts. Even though they are both disappointing. But I don't think either of them had the big fail required to be busts.

 

One of the problems with benching Benton is that you have to have someone else that can take the snaps.

He's not as good as we would have wanted him to be given his draft position.

I woudln't have minded seeing more of Black last year, but they clearly didn't think he was very ready for real NFL games.

 

Harmon is the only young DL we have that looks legit and good enough for a 2nd contract. Steelers have been very poor at drafting DL for a while now. Tuitt was the last badass. It's getting as bad as CB picks between Keenan Lewis and JPJ.

 

The Pittsburgh Steelers have made a handful of risky draft picks ever since Omar Khan was named general manager. Instead of going for low-ceiling guys like Pittsburgh had done a lot in previous years to fill needs, he has tried to find guys with the highest potential to come in and develop into superstars. That is also the plan with new first-round pick Max Iheanachor, as he is not expected to be the Week 1 starter as he slowly learns how the NFL works. That should be the case for the future as well.
Apparently, that potential high-risk, high-reward methodology includes sometimes throwing away bad games. On the latest episode of "Steel City Insider," Jim Wexell explained how the Steelers dismissed a bad sign from one of the guys that they had just drafted.

"You know, I remember questioning [Keeanu Benton's] run stopping ability when he came out of Wisconsin," Wexell said. "I said 'Man, he got chewed up by Ohio State,' and the answer was, 'Ohio State chewed up a lot of players that day.' Well, I mean, now he's in the NFL. I think they're a little bit better than Ohio State. Maybe not much, but still. I mean, that was no answer. But that's what we've gotten."

 

I'm intrigued with seeing Benton and Black in this new defense. I see 34 scheme as in name only and the 425 trend continuing. Benton has a lot to prove this season. Hopefully he steps up to the challenge.

 

I don't disagree with you on any of this. And even Harmon is young.

Although I won't be upset if we can get Benton on a team-friendly extension.

And it's not like Lewis was all that good either.

Despite the long tenure of both our last two coaches, we had:

• Woodson. who was obviously great. That's two coaches ago.
• Ike. Drafted by Cowher, but really came into his own under Tomlin.
• JPJ. I think he's going to be really good. But doesn't have the name recognition, which I don't mind.

Clearly our focus was a lot more on the "rush" than the "cover" when it comes to draft capital.

 

I think my thinking here has changed.

In the Blitzburgh days, I was more about getting high-floor guys.

But I think in today's NFL, it's mostly about big impact. So I don't mind swinging for the fences. Especially at high value positions like OT. It's also why I didn't hate the Picket pick (and still don't think it was a bad gamble). When you have a chance at a QB who might be at least average, you kind of have to take it when you don't have a QB.