The Pittsburgh Steelers invested heavily along their defensive line this offseason, drafting Derrick Harmon in the first round and Yahya Black in the fifth round. They also signed veteran Daniel Ekuale in free agency and were hoping for a third-year breakout from nose tackle Keeanu Benton.
Of course, another year with Cameron Heyward was expected to carry the group as a whole, too. But it didn’t start out all that well for the group. Harmon missed the first two games of the year with a knee injury, Black wasn’t able to carry preseason dominance into the regular season, Heyward was slow getting up to speed and Benton was largely a mess as a run defender.