2. DeMarvin Leal, Defensive Line
Picked one round before Calvin Austin last year was DeMarvin Leal. Though Leal did get on the field last year, we didn't see as much of him as we would have hoped, as Leal ended up on IR in the middle of the season with a knee injury.
After being a bit banged up in training camp this year, Leal seems healthy and ready to go for this contest against the Buccaneers. Now it's time to see what the Steelers really have in him. While I wasn't at all opposed to drafting Leal, his fit with the Steelers was questionable. Leal was a base 4-3 defensive end at Texas A&M, but he's a bit stuck in between positions in Pittsburgh.
Entering the league at 6'4'' and 283 pounds, Leal has a frame that is almost a mix of an oversized edge defender and an undersized defensive tackle. There are also reports that he's up near the 300-pound range now. Do the Steelers still play him on the edge or do they try to fit him in as an interior pass rusher?
The concern is that Leal isn't athletic enough to play on the edge in the NFL, and some fear that he is going to be stretched too thin as Teryl Austin looks to move him all over the defensive line. How he performs against the Buccaneers could be a good indicator of how much progress he has made since last year and where his potential fit will be in 2023.