Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Keeanu Benton has found himself locked into a nose tackle role throughout the first three seasons of his career.
That’s often led to discussions about him being miscast at nose tackle in the Steelers’ 3-4 defense under former defensive line coach Karl Dunbar.
With new defensive line coach Domata Peko overseeing things up front now, it appears the Steelers could be soft launching a role change for Benton.
According to Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora, who was at the second practice of training camp in Latrobe Thursday morning, Benton worked as a base defensive end, rather than nose tackle.
Keeanu Benton taking rep as base defensive end, not NT, in team drill. #Steelers
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) July 30, 2026
That comes after Peko talked all offseason about second-year pro Yahya Black potentially being a great nose tackle for the Steelers in their 3-4 scheme, not to mention veteran free agent signee Sebastian Joseph-Day being a fit for the role, too.
Of course, it’s just one day, and, according to Kozora, the Steelers were mixing and matching a lot up front, including with team captain and 16-year veteran Cameron Heyward manning some snaps in the middle of the defensive line.
Lots of mixing and matching along D;(and team in general) but looked like Cam Heyward was manning the middle in some 3-4 looks today.
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) July 30, 2026
But with Benton in line for a contract extension and after all the talk this offseason about Black at nose tackle, it’s notable that the Steelers are eyeing moving Benton around and taking a look at him as a base defensive end.
With Heyward another year older and second-year pro Derrick Harmon struggling to stay healthy as a rookie, it makes sense to have Benton work in at defensive end in base-defense situations, adding some depth and versatility up front under new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
We’ll see if it continues throughout training camp and into the preseason, but so far early in camp the Steelers are moving Benton around, which is something fans have been asking for since he was drafted and plugged in at nose tackle.
