Head coach Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers offered a lot of candid thoughts about the team’s future at quarterback and offensive coordinator in his end-of-the-season press conference. But his answer to a question on 2022 third-round pick DeMarvin Leal may have been Tomlin’s most blunt response on January 18.
In the first half of the 2023 season, Leonal started four games; however, he was a healthy scratch in four of the team’s final five games. He was also declared inactive by the Steelers for their postseason game against the Buffalo Bills.
Tomlin wouldn’t rule out Leal being a part in the campaign of 2024. The head coach stated that the defensive lineman will have to show far more than he did in his first two seasons.
“That’s for sure, but he has to be part of it,” Tomlin stated to the press on January 18. He needs to put in some work because, as we all know, we only put helmets on the players we believe will be most effective in ensuring our success.
Last season, in 12 games, Leonal recorded a total of 15 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 2 quarterback hits. He also got one pass defense and one sack.
Steelers Benched DeMarvin Leal After He Lost Starting Job
After dealing with a knee injury during the middle part of the 2022 season, Leal returned in December to play a
complementary role towards the latter of his first season.
In Week 17 of that season, Leal made his second start of the career. He recorded 14 total tackles in his rookie season, including 1 tackle for loss and 3 pass defenses.
In his first game back of the season, veteran Cameron Heyward injured his groin, which gave Leal a chance to start playing a larger part in his second. From Weeks 2-4, Leal started three games in a row.
However, he encountered difficulties. Based on Pro Football Focus player assessments, he performed below average in run defense and pass rush in each of those three starts.
When Heyward returned in Week 9 against the Tennessee Titans, Leal lost his starting position. The last time in 2023 that Leonal played more than nine defensive snaps in a game was against the Titans.
The Steelers didn’t even have Leal dress in Week 14. He was inactive for the team’s final four games, including the playoffs, but he did participate in Week 15.
Pittsburgh’s Defensive Line Depth Entering 2024
The Steelers have been over-reliant on Heyward along their defensive line for years. Although 2023 second-round pick Keeanu Benton emerged as a quality starter this past season, the Steelers still didn’t have great defensive line depth and were much stronger against the run when Heyward was in the lineup.
Heyward shared on his Not Just Football Podcast on January 18 that he is “not retiring.” But Heyward will turn 35 in May. The Steelers must develop more defensive line depth quickly.
That’s especially true when considering rotational defensive lineman Montravius Adams is a pending free agent, and Larry Ogunjobi, who led the Steelers defensive line in snaps during 2023, could be a cap casualty.
Keeping all of that in mind, Leal’s career turnaround in 2024 would be very beneficial to Pittsburgh.
Tomlin gave the impression that Leal will have that chance.He has two more seasons left on his deal.
However, it seems that Leal will need to put in some effort to win Tomlin over again.
Sports writer Dave Holcomb writes about the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers for Heavy.com. Holcomb, who is originally from Pittsburgh, has covered professional and collegiate sports for publications like Fansided, Rotowire, and Yardbarker.Additional information on Dave Holcomb
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‘Bless her heart’: Bills Mafia helps Steelers fans stranded at Highmark Stadium
“Bless her heart. If she sees this, please reach out to me, because she was a big help.”
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Alex Ware and his girlfriend Kalea Miller are Pittsburgh Steelers fans from West Virginia, but when they realized they lost their keys in Monday’s Highmark Stadium snow, Bills Mafia came to help.
The two of them came up to Western New York for Monday’s Buffalo Bills game, but when they left, Alex realized something very important was missing.
“When we got back to the car,” Alex said. “I realized the keys were no longer in my possession.”
Rather than allowing Alex and Kalea to stand in the cold weather all night, a very nice Bills fan took them back to her house.
“I wish I could tell you her name, but a Bills fan took us to her house, then we got a hotel in East Aurora that was close,” Alex said. “Her son drove us to our hotel over there, because that’s close to where they were from.”
Once they got back to their hotel room, their trip got worse.
Alex’s family back home tried to mail him the spare key to his car, but even that got lost too.
“I called my dad the next day, he decided to overnight ship my spare key to me,” Alex said. “The snowstorm hit, [and] my spare keys are still in the mail.”
The NYSDOT announced that 23 cars that were stuck in the snow over the course of the week were towed, 19 of which ended up at the Tops parking lot in Orchard Park
Alex and Kalea found their car right in the middle of them, sharing a message they hope reaches that kind member of Bills Mafia that so graciously helped them out.
“Bless her heart. If she sees this, please reach out to me, because she was a big help,” Alex said. “To be honest, it was such a mess that night, I don’t even remember her name.”
After I posted their story to social media, we found her!
Meg Hodson’s son saw the video and asked his mom to hop on Zoom and talk to me.
“Initially we walked by and ignored them. Then I thought, ‘I’m with my daughter, what am I teaching my daughter if I just ignore this couple that is in distress,” Meg said. “I said, ‘Why don’t you come with us, come to my house, and we will get you to the hotel’.”
She’s actually from Orchard Park, not East Aurora, and felt that this was just the right thing to do.
“I’ve been in situations before where I’ve been lost in another city. They were obviously Steelers fans, and they were lost and confused,” Meg said. “For me, it was more so my kids were with me and showing my kids to always do the right thing.”
Alex got a spare key made at the West Herr Chevy dealership down the road and tells me they will be on the road home soon.
“I don’t know when I’m getting home, but I will get home eventually,” Alex said.
He will be coming home to West Virginia with quite the story about the warm spirit of Western New York.
