A lot of the focus for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the lead-up to the preseason has been their offense. Understandably, Justin Fields, George Pickens, and Russell Wilson all have the capability to lead this team to victory. However, the squad's defense tends to get overshadowed by these conversations. Mike Tomlin and Karl Dunbar's coaching staff was faced with big decisions in schemes and rotations. The biggest one in the Steelers offseason so far involves DeMarvin Leal.
The Steelers have opted to shift DeMarvin Leal's position such that he becomes an outside linebacker. He has struggled to produce big numbers and make huge plays for Mike Tomlin's team when he was a defensive end for two seasons. So, the coaching staff is very optimistic about this new rotational change that they made.
To put it into perspective, Leal was not in the best condition at DE. Throughout two seasons with the Steelers after exiting Texas A&M, he has only managed to notch 29 combined tackles. Of those takedowns, only 18 of them were done by his own sheer strength with no help. Moreover, the Steelers linebacker only recorded one sack in that span of time too. Clearly, he was not too comfortable in this role alongside TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith.
Despite this big change, Leal welcomes the decision made by his coaches. He even set a deadline for himself to pop off, via Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“It’s now for me. I wouldn’t say now or never for the season, but it’s now for me,” he declared.
Steelers coach gets real on the DeMarvin Leal situation
It takes time for a lineman to grow in the league. However, three seasons is already a fairly long duration for someone who is constantly given the opportunity to pop out and show Steelers fans this offseason that he is worthy of being on the 53-man roster.
Regardless of all these statements being made and lofty goals set, the Steelers are not yet giving up on Leal. Karl Dunbar even had some high praise for him and his progress while transitioning into the new role.
“He’s always been an athletic guy. He’s more attentive in the meetings. You can see him out here, he’s learned both of them — defensive end position and outside linebacker position. You can see the productivity on the field is starting to show up,” the defensive line coach added.
There are clearly a lot of things that the Steelers need to figure out on defense. But, adding depth through converting Leal could make the most impact.
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