The young defensive linemen who are trying to find a place on the bottom of the Steelers' depth chart have a common problem, and that's with consistent footwork.
Two weeks ago we talked about the Steelers' seventh-round pick from the 2018 NFL draft, Joshua Frazier, and how his need to improve his first step off the snap of the ball could be the key to him making the roster.
Frazier's opportunity comes from the Steelers' lack of faith in Dan McCullers as their backup defensive tackle. McCullers has the size to be a force at defensive tackle but hasn't developed into anything significant, as he only played 13 defensive snaps in the entirety of 2017.
Another player who could compete for McCullers' spot on the roster could be one of the Steelers' undrafted free agent signings of this year, Kendal Vickers out of Tennessee.
Vickers is another big player who stands 6-foot-3, 295 lbs. His experience as a 3-year player in the SEC never showed a completely dominant player, but at times he would be the anchor for Tennessee's interior defensive line. He saw more one-on-one opportunities when he was on the line with Derek Barnett, Tennessee's all-time leading sack man and 2017 first-round selection by the Eagles, and he picked 2.5 sacks as well as 5.5 tackles for loss.
Many of Vickers' best moments came from him being able to beat his opponent off the ball, gain a leverage advantage by being lower than his opponent, then finishing by using active hands to fight at the point of attack. A prime example was this tackle he had against Florida when he stood up the right guard, maintained his spot on the line and was able to fight through the block to shed his man and tackle the running back for a minimal gain.
Watch how he got his initial boost up under his man and then was able to use his hands to shove him back to create the space he needed to move into the gap where the back was headed:
You can see the same kind of burst against Vanderbilt in 2016 by how he fired out of a low four-point stance and was able to get his hands in the chest of his opponent to gain the advantage he needed to make the play. Watch how he used his right hand to get inside of the left guard's arms and be at the point where he was able to slide into the proper gap to lead the way for a tackle for no gain:
This is where Vickers was able to make a name for himself at Tennessee, as he could beat the average-to-below-average linemen with a good first step, maintaining low leverage and using violent hands to win battles in the middle of the line.
His ability to get to his spot quickly allowed him to win some battles simply from quick footwork to get to a gap. Here he is doing just that in 2017 against Georgia's Isiah Wynn, a first-round pick by the Patriots this year, and getting a sack on Nick Fromm.
Granted, Wynn definitely makes the mistake of allowing his outside gap to be free while he's looking for someone to attack his inside shoulder, but this is where Vickers' boost off the line is a benefit. Even a top-tier NCAA tackle can't recover to stop him if Vickers catches him off guard:
The problem with Vickers' game is that he too often does not dominate his gap, instead getting pushed off the ball and out of his gap. For the most part, this is a result of his failure to keep moving his feet once he makes contact. While he does get a good jump off the ball, Vickers' footwork stops as soon as he makes contact with his man and he's put into a backpedal, which results in him being blown eight yards off the ball:
You can get a closer look at the footwork problems with this play against Georgia. Watch how he's able to get lower than his man, but his feet stop moving once he makes contact with his man. Even though he's battling here, he needs to be at least chopping his feet to add to the momentum should he gain an advantage in the battle so he can push his opponent into the backfield:
This is one of the more fundamental aspects of Vickers' game that he should work to improve while with the Steelers in OTAs and training camp. Because of the standing of both McCullers and Frazier, it might take a lot for someone else to find a way to be that reserve defensive tackle. Though Vickers is a long shot to make the roster, his footwork could be the key to turning a longshot into a reality.