2023 Steelers Draft Class: Say Hello to the “Goon” Squad

Story by Yinzer Crazy Featured Steelers Contributor Adam Davidson. Follow him on Twitter @Adam_J_Davidson

For Keanu Benton, it started with a phone call from his new head coach. Soon after, a whirlwind of interviews; every reporter on the Steelers beat clamoring to be the first to get a quote from the newest Steelers nose tackle.

In the chaos that is the NFL Draft, as rookies find out what city they’ll be moving to and how they’ll deposit their first million dollars, Benton had no time to reconsider his words to Steelers.com:

"Just talking to Coach Tomlin, the main thing I had taken away from that was he wants goons out there, and he wants somebody who's not afraid to get his nose dirty, and I feel like I am the best option for that guy."

Tomlin, ever so quick to knock his young prospects down a peg or two, responded soon after.

“That’s an accurate description,” said Tomlin, with a smile. “But I’ll give him some media training so he can keep some of our private conversations private.”

Indeed, the raw nose tackle Benton - who was offered more wrestling scholarships than football scholarships out of high school - is a little rough around the edges. Perhaps some refinement and media training is necessary, but we shouldn’t confuse the game of football for “My Fair Lady” anytime soon. In years prior, Tomlin heaped praise upon division rivals Calais Campbell and Brandon Williams of Baltimore, using that forbidden word of “goon” to describe their run-stuffing, manhandling mentality. And to their credit, the respective Ravens d-linemen wore the label with pride.

But what is a “goon” in the football sense? And why are they so coveted by Tomlin and other NFL head coaches?

Perhaps it’s a necessary shift in the culture Tomlin is seeking to build in this new era of Steelers football. After all, the Steelers are charging forward with a young quarterback at the helm, and if Kenny Pickett is to succeed, his greatest assets ought to be the “bodyguards” and “goons” around him.

Let us rewind back to October of 2022 and the miserable 1-3 start by the Steelers. Pittsburgh is outmatched and outgunned by the finesse and aerial artistry of Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, about to admit defeat in their fourth loss of the year. However, Pickett is showing the heart of a champion, initiating a post-whistle fight with the Bills’ Shaq Lawson who had bullied the former Pitt Panther all game long.

In the melee and the frustration and all the flags that ensued, teammates rushed to Pickett’s defense. Veteran guard and 2022 free agent acquisition James Daniels even stood up for his rookie QB earlier in the third quarter upon a late hit, slamming Lawson to the turf and almost earning an ejection.

Call them “goons.” Call them “bodyguards.” Call them what you will. Tomlin wants more of them. Even Cam Heyward, a man as close to a coach on the field as you’ll find, desires a team of “goons” who’ll stand up to the bullies of the AFC.

In a live recording of his podcast “Not Just Football” at the North Shore’s Stage AE this past Friday, Heyward made sure to praise his quarterback’s toughness, while offering a little advice.

“As a defender, when a quarterback comes at me, I want to bury him… But I like the fire. I like, you know, you getting into it - but that’s in practice. We’re not doing this in the game. I need you all four quarters for every single game, so stay out of the way and let the big folks take care of that.”

Needless to say, Pickett got the message. At Stage AE, the franchise QB going into his second year was smiling ear to ear, even more so when his newest bodyguard was introduced to the fans in attendance.

Waving a Terrible Towel and assuming a seat beside the man he’s been entrusted to protect, the Steelers’ first round selection, Georgia offensive tackle Broderick Jones, made it clear to Steelers Nation that they should expect a hard-nosed, physical and unrelenting presence on their offensive line for years to come.

That very night, fans witnessed the drafting of three additional Steelers, including the aforementioned Keanu Benton, cornerback Joey Porter Jr., and tight end Darnell Washington. There was to be no mistake regarding the sea change in draft philosophy ongoing on the South Side at Steelers’ headquarters.

Under a new general manager in Omar Khan and assistant Andy Weidl, Pittsburgh is casting aside the label of finesse they had acquired under the “Killer B’s” era and charting a new way forward that puts emphasis on not just athleticism, but size, physicality, and attitude.

You would expect linemen such as Jones and Benton to exude these qualities, but perhaps not so much in the case of a cornerback. However, not every cornerback has the bloodlines of a legendary Steelers defender.

Penn State corner and Steelers second-round pick Porter Jr. ascribes to a brand of football that would make his father proud. Excelling in press coverage and willing to tackle anyone with his exceptionally long arms, Porter Jr. was a gift to the Steelers at the top of Round Two after falling down draft boards in Round One. The second-generation Steeler is expected to compete with Levi Wallace to start opposite Patrick Peterson, or at least give the veteran Wallace a decent fight for that one spot.

The competition in Latrobe for training camp this year will be fierce between Porter Jr. and Wallace, and the potential jawing between players may get a little nasty. But don’t expect to hear the trash talk over the sound of blocking sleds being pushed ten yards downfield.

Late Friday night, the Steelers capped off their Day Two by trading down with Carolina to acquire Georgia tight end Darnell Washington. At almost six-foot-seven, the massive Washington fell into the Steelers’ laps after medical concerns regarding a knee surgery prompted red flags from other teams. However, the risk-reward proposition in Washington’s case is too high to pass up.

Despite catching just 45 passes in his Georgia career, the long arms and big frame of Washington will create mismatches downfield, providing a safety valve for Pickett that will be near impossible to overthrow. However, the Las Vegas native Washington prides himself most on his blocking skills, professing that he is more of a sixth offensive lineman than a true tight end. If so, backs-on-backers drills this year at St. Vincent will be must-see material for every training camp attendee.

Even with three picks remaining in the NFL Draft at the end of Day Two, everyone in Pittsburgh had taken notice. The Steelers were in an instant much bigger, much stronger, and perhaps much tougher than in years previous. But the Steelers weren’t quite finished.

On Day Three, the Steelers added Wisconsin edge rusher Nick Herbig - brother of Steelers guard Nate - to the fold in Round Four. Though he presents the one major outlier of the Steelers’ draft, as he’s perhaps too small in measurable height and arm length to be a “goon” per se, nobody has yet to inform him. On college tape, Nick defies his measurables and consistently beats tackles en route to the quarterback, having amassed 21 sacks through three seasons. He’ll look to backup Alex Highsmith or fellow Badger TJ Watt before perhaps beginning a transition to middle linebacker, if the need arises.

Pittsburgh rounded out its value-ridden 2023 Draft with another perceived steal, six-foot-three cornerback Cory Trice of Purdue, and a “do-it-all” offensive guard, Maryland’s Spencer Anderson in Round Seven. A staple of Tomlin drafts, a versatile offensive lineman comes at one point or another every year, and Anderson should look to backup Mason Cole at center. Meanwhile, Cory Trice adds more much-needed size and a physical presence to a backfield that struggled against bigger, taller receivers on the deep ball in 2022. As defensive backs coach Grady Brown suggested post-draft, “we’ll look good getting off the bus.”

Indeed, these young Steelers will look like a prototypical football team stepping off the bus and into any stadium they look to conquer in 2023. And that’s not to mention the golden flowing mullet of undrafted Iowa fullback Monte Pottebaum, or the tenacity of fellow undrafted player David Perales, edge rusher from Fresno State, both of whom stand a decent shot of making the roster at the immediate outset given the need at such positions.

As speculative as the NFL Draft is, every A+ grade the Steelers have earned from reputable media outlets for this draft is to be taken with a grain of salt. After all, the initial value and infusion of talent the Steelers added in 2008 with Rashard Mendenhall, Limas Sweed and Bruce Davis was short-lived, as promising careers were either squandered or cut short.

With that said, the Steelers went into this year’s draft with a mission and a goal; to get bigger, stronger, tougher, and more imposing - from the first step off the bus to the first step back on. If that was indeed the mission of Khan, Weidel and Tomlin, then mission accomplished.