While we spent time throughout the month of May talking about which defensive tackle, Joshua Frazier or Kendal Vickers, could earn the last spot on the depth chart, it's important to remember who sits atop that chart: Javon Hargrave.
Hargrave is almost the opposite of Frazier or Vickers in that he's made his NFL career by being pesky with his fundamentals and winning battles by constantly being the lowest man at the line of scrimmage.
But at the age of 25, it's still possible that Hargrave can work to improve his game in the coming years. We take a look at where he's been at his best and where he can improve to boost the Steelers' defensive interior:
Hargrave isn't the typical nose tackle, but the Steelers do align him in the zero technique—directly over the center—and have him try to dominate the middle of the line. That's the role Casey Hampton filled for a decade on the Steelers' line, but the current state of the NFL calls for more diverse defensive tackles who can move about the line and be strong in both base 3-4 formations and sub packages.
While Hargrave isn't the powerhouse that Hampton was, he does use his mechanics to quickly get leverage on centers and drive them into the backfield to collapse the pocket. We saw that in the Steelers' opening game against the Browns when Hargrave got his first of two sacks on the year by doing just what we described.
Watch how he gets his hands up inside of his man, keeps a wide base with his feet and drives his man into DeShone Kizer, then disengaging to record the sack:
That's the textbook method for dominating at the line of scrimmage. It's also Hargrave's calling card as a defensive tackle and how he's made some of his biggest plays. Some of those plays don't show up on the stat sheet, but one which was a major turning point for the Steelers in a game they almost won was against the Patriots when he pressured Tom Brady in the second half, leading to the 5-time Super Bowl champion's first interception thrown to the Steelers in more than a decade.
While the Steelers' linebackers did a good job forcing Brady to work through his progressions, Hargrave collapsed the pocket right on Brady and forced him to get rid of the ball, leading to the Vince Williams interception:
But Hargrave has developed more than just a simple bull rush technique in his two years in the NFL. He's also learning how to win by applying different hand-battle techniques to outmaneuver opponents.
Here he is lining up against veteran center Ben Jones of the Titans. Hargrave lines up on Jones' left shoulder and is able to cross his face with quick feet and a solid swim move to get to the other A-Gap and be in position to dominate the space so that he and Bud Dupree can secure a tackle-for-loss:
But Hargrave is still not the dominant force in the middle who can draw the attention of double teams and take away interior gaps regularly for the Steelers' defense. That has been the typical role for dominant 3-4 defensive tackles like Vince Wilfork and Hampton.
The Steelers have adapted their defensive scheme with NFL passing offenses, so Hargrave may fit the role of what they're looking for in a defensive tackle who can also play as an interior pass rusher in sub-packages.
Still, not having that dominant pressure in the middle can lead to problems — mainly inside linebackers getting clogged up with blockers.
It can also lead to Hargrave being completely driven out of his hole. His style often involves more finesse moves that allow him to move quickly, but if he doesn't get to his spot or an offensive linemen isn't fooled, he can get driven away from the play, like he was here by Tyler Shatley in the Steelers' regular season loss to the Jaguars:
The Steelers have Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt as their top defensive linemen who naturally attract double teams with their size and skill . This means when Hargrave gets those one-on-one looks, he needs to at least hold down his gap to help redirect running plays.
Late in the 2017 season, in particular, the Steelers saw him not get the kind of push expected of a defensive tackle getting those kind of matchups and teams took advantage of those moments. Watch how Matt Skura of the Ravens is able to keep Hargrave just busy enough to allow Alex Collins to run past Hargrave's outstretched arms:
If Hargrave is able to at least hold his ground and push Skura into the backfield a bit, it could redirect Collins and alter the play entirely.
While Hargrave is a third-round pick and on a decent pace of play for the Steelers, he still looks to have his best years ahead of him. To improve, Hargrave will either need to further the precision of his finesse moves to get around linemen or become the powerhouse of the middle who can't be moved. Doing either could boost the Steelers' gap integrity significantly for 2018 and beyond.