Halicke: Benton's freed up to do more, meet high expectations

Mike Tomlin expects every single one of his Year 2 players to take a big step forward. There have been rare exceptions, but Tomlin usually doesn't put high expectations on his rookies to become significant contributors right away.

But in Year 2, any notions of grading on a curve gets thrown out the window. Now, the Steelers expect players such as Keeanu Benton to become key players on the roster.

For all intents and purposes, Benton had a solid rookie season. He didn't do much in terms of numbers, recording just one sack and eight quarterback hits while playing in all 17 games, nine of which as a starter. Typically, nose tackles aren't drafted to put up numbers in the pass-rushing department, but things are different with Benton.

Benton came out of Wisconsin known more for his ability as a pass-rusher, despite playing a position known more for eating up space and helping stop the run. So, if Benton was going to make an impact right away, it would needed to have been primarily as a pass rusher, especially since Cam Heyward miss a good chunk of the season with a groin injury.

And, for anyone who takes the grades from Pro Football Focus with any grain of salt, Benton ranked 20th among interior defenders with a 76.9 overall grade and ranked 10th among interior defenders with an 82.6 grade as a pass rusher. His work as a run defender, however, needs improvement, and you don't need a PFF grade to see that. Benton was still raw in this department as a rookie, but he knows in order to take the Year 2 leap, that growing that part of his game is important.

"It just comes with coaching," Benton said after Monday's practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "Coach [Karl] Dunbar does a very good job of putting those drills in front of us to make it as realistic as possible. I thank him for that. And I think this year is going to be a big jump in my game."

Rookie seasons are very difficult in the NFL. As soon as the college season ends, prospects heading into the draft immediately get to work in preparing for the event. Workout after workout, events such as the Senior Bowl, Shrine Bowl, NFL Scouting Combine, Pro Days and pre-draft visits take up all the time leading into the draft itself, then players have to quickly adjust to their new team and immediately get to work. They really don't get a break until their rookie season comes to an end.

Heading into Year 2, everything slows down -- the offseason, the process, the team development, the game itself. No longer do players such as Benton feel like they're jumping onto a moving train, but rather are going in knowing what to expect, which frees them up in every way possible.

I asked Benton after Monday's practice how he feels he's progressed throughout the team-building process in training camp and the preseason, to which he laid out exactly what makes things easier for players heading into their second year:

"Just me knowing the defense a lot better. Just knowing what's coming my way," Benton said. "Just not being nervous on doing anything. Just trying moves out there. Like I said, knowing the defense helps a lot. Last year ... it just kind of knocks out that thinking-about-what-to-do part, and just going out there and ... doing it."

Benton also explained that not being bogged down by thinking about details of defensive schemes has freed him up to work on the finer details in his game. No longer is he focused on playing vanilla within his defined role while sometimes guessing what other were doing up front. This much was clear in the preseason finale in Detroit.

The defense recorded three consecutive sacks on the Lions' first series of the game, with Benton getting credit for a half sack on the second and the third being a strip sack that gave the offense incredible field position. While Nick Herbig rightfully got a ton of credit for making two amazing plays, including the strip sack, Benton made his mark, too. Here's what Benton did on each of these three sacks:

Lined up in his typical nose tackle position, Benton hits the center with a ridiculous swim move, immediately gaining leverage and puts pressure on Hendon Hooker. He and Larry Ogunjobi winning their reps up front forces Hooker to his right, which gives Herbig an easy sack.

Nose tackles aren't supposed to move like this. Back in the day, nose tackles were known mostly for being guys who could eat space and take on two blockers to free up other defenders. But Benton can create a mismatch with his pass-rushing ability. And, it provides him the versatility to line up in other spots, as he did on the next snap:

Here, Benton is lined up as a 3-tech between the left guard and left tackle as the Steelers were in one of their subpackages with two interior linemen. This could be deemed as a coverage sack, but Benton still deserves credit for a win and half sack here. He never gets locked up by the guard as he is very active with his hands to combat those attempts, and remains a moving target by shuffling left and right. Then, Benton hits him with a devastating push-pull move and tosses him aside. The only thing this play lacked was the finish to earn the solo sack.

Finally, Benton winds up in the same spot as the 3-tech. Here, Benton doesn't try anything fancy, just tries to push the guard straight back into the quarterback. He gets a couple yards, then is stopped. But he keeps his eyes up and is able to get his hand up to where the throwing window was intended before Herbig gets back there to knock the ball out just in time.

Three reps, three different moves. This is what preseason's for -- just beat the guy across from you. And, since he was going up against the Lions' second-teamers, he should have looked as dominant as he did. 

Benton made it a point to add more weapons to his pass-rushing arsenal. In college, he could beat centers and guards with sheer quickness and violent hands. But in the NFL, if you want to be a good pass rusher, you have to be able to be well-conditioned and have a lot of tricks in the bag. He used the offseason to get his body in the right shape, and made it a point to become more active in how he attacks blockers.

"That's something I worked on this offseason, just being more active," Benton said. "Not having just one move off the ball then stop and staring at the quarterback. Just throwing moves out there and trying to get there."

Here's the thing: Benton doesn't have to always get there. He's got T.J. Watt on one side, Alex Highsmith on the other and he'll have a healthy Cam Heyward flanking one side of him. If all he does is push the pocket, his job is done. But, should he become a more lethal pass rusher, it could have a ripple effect on how the whole team gets to the quarterback.

This is why of all the Year 2 players, a big jump from Benton could be the most impactful. The defensive line is probably the weakest spot on that side of the ball. If Benton takes a huge step forward and Cam gets back to being Cam again, it's no longer a weakness. And, with the players the Steelers have elsewhere, that could make this one of the best defenses in the league.

Now, this was just preseason. But, as it is with Herbig, Benton did everything he could do during camp and preseason to show that he's poised to become a contributor. All that remains is finding a way to carry this type of dominance over to the regular season.