This shouldn’t come as a shock to anybody who has been following the trends over the past decade-plus, but the body types of NFL athletes have been gradually changing. Even in arguably the most surprising places, such as the defensive line.
That’s a problem for a team like the Pittsburgh Steelers—if they allow it to be one. And that will be telling as they move on into an important chapter with the start of a rebuild of their defensive line. While they still have 33-year-old Cameron Heyward playing at a high level, his career will wind down, and what else they have is not quite clear.