Why it’s difficult for the Steelers to draft defensive players to fit their scheme
By Eric Hassel
A stalwart D-lineman and a first-round bust at OLB for the Steelers
In 2011, the Steelers drafted Cameron Heyward, DE from Ohio State. Although Heyward was listed as a DE, he did play both the DE and DT (defensive tackle) spots in the 4-3 defense for Ohio State. Heyward is a two-time Pro Bowler and a one-time All-Pro, so no issues with his transition from the 4-3 to the 3-4. Personally, Heyward could line up at DT, DE or NT (nose tackle) and be effective.
The one issue with the D-line, as I see it, is when the Steelers deploy their “Nickel” package, which is typically a ‘2-4-5′ set up, meaning there a 2 D-lineman, 4 LB’s and 5 DB’s. This defense is susceptible to the run. I am sure we all remember the 231 rushing yards we surrendered against the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017. Whether the Steelers were in their base 3-4 or in the “Nickel’, they could not stop the run in that game. To say that game was a disappointment would be an understatement.
Speaking of disappointments, in 2013, the Steelers drafted Jarvis Jones, OLB from Georgia, with the 17th pick in the first round. Jones played in 50 games over four seasons, compiling 6 sacks. This was a ‘miss’ of epic proportions.
Although hindsight is 20/20 vision, in a previous article, I mentioned some players whom the Steelers could have drafted instead of Jones. To quickly recap, we could have drafted the following players, all of whom were taken after Jones: Tyler Eifert, Desmond Trufant, Xavier Rhodes or DeAndre Hopkins, to name a few.
Ironically, Jones played in a 3-4 defense at Georgia, playing both OLB spots. What I observed as a fan, from the outside looking in, when Jones started his Steelers career was that he was not strong at the point of attack and just could not consistently get off a block to make a play.
According to NFL.com, Jones did not impress during his Pro Day, running a 4.92-second 40-yard dash and putting up (20) reps on the bench press. Having been a competitive natural powerlifter in my youth, I probably could have gotten 20 reps at 225lbs and I weighed 202lbs at my heaviest. Honesty, all the “red flags” were there; however, I think the Steelers were enamored with his college sack production, which was admittedly impressive -28 sacks in two seasons.
Let’s keep the discussion going, shall we?