INDIANAPOLIS -- The Steelers have prided themselves in being a team built on their defense.
So the fact that the Steelers ranked dead last in the NFL in 2021 stopping the run had to lead to a lot of sleepless nights for Mike Tomlin and company.
Sure, there were extenuating circumstances with Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu combining to play just five quarters in 2021. But even with Kevin Colbert saying Tuitt wants to return in 2022 and Alualu expected to be back from a fractured ankle, the Steelers are still getting a little long in tooth up front.
Alualu is 35. Cam Heyward is coming off his fourth All-Pro season, but is 32. Tuitt turns 29 in May.
And, as the Steelers saw last season, they have some nice pieces backing those players up, but they are just that, backups.
Enter a player such as Georgia's Jordan Davis.
The massive nose tackle is listed at 6-foot-6, 340 pounds. But he said Friday he typically played at 350 to 360 pounds last season for the Bulldogs.
Davis said he "trimmed back down" to 340 pounds for the NFL Scouting Combine, but he is expected to run somewhere around 5 seconds in the 40-yard dash when the defensive linemen take the field for workouts here Saturday. It gives you an idea that Davis is more than just someone who plugs the middle.
"Everybody knows I'm a run stopper and pass rush kind of goes by the wayside with me," Davis said Friday. "But definitely in the offseason that's something I've been working on. I've called on a few people. I've been working out with Chuck Smith, who's known as 'Dr. Pass Rush.' I feel when I have a disadvantage I want to make sure I try to even the odds and bring it up to the same level. It's just all working and about improving. This is what it's all about. In the offseason you want to get better. I definitely think I'm doing that."
Davis said he had a formal interview with the Steelers and he could be in play for them with the 20th pick in the first round, particularly if the Steelers fill their quarterback need in free agency.
Acquiring a nose tackle in the first round is something the Steelers haven't done since taking Casey Hampton in 2001. The NFL game has changed since then, making the need to make that move a Catch-22. If you don't have a run-plugging nose tackle, opponents will run the ball on you all day. If you do have a good run-stuffing nose tackle, they'll simply put three or more wide receivers on the field to get him off it and then run the ball out of that package.
But, if Davis can show explosion here and also work with Smith, a pass rushing specialist who also has worked with Heyward and a number of other Steelers players in the offseason, he could certainly be worthy of being a first-round selection.
He definitely eats up space in the middle. In fact, he relishes that role.
"In our scheme I play zero (technique) and I always say 'two on me, somebody's free.' So I free up the linebackers so they can make plays. It's one of those things that you have to be selfless about. You're not going to make every play, especially at that nose position. If you can do anything to influence the play it's good for the defense."
That would be a needed factor for the Steelers inside linebackers, as well. With Tuitt and Alualu out, the Steelers' off-ball linebackers saw way too many blockers getting to the second level last season.
It added up to poor seasons for Devin Bush and Joe Schobert. The Steelers also have had a formal interview with first-round linebacker Devin Lloyd, potentially the top prospect at that position, so they're thinking about an upgrade there, as well.
But the easier fix might be to simply add a true nose tackle who can allow Alualu to do what he did in his first two seasons with the Steelers -- be a backup to Heyward and Tuitt.
It wouldn't be an unprecedented move for the Steelers.
"We had Casey Hampton. But when we went to our sub packages, we bumped Brett Keisel and Aaron Smith inside and Casey Hampton was on the sideline," said former Steelers safety Ryan Clark. "When you're Jordan Davis and you've done some of the things he's done, maybe teams are tantalized that you can move him around in those sub packages."
Perhaps. And with the Steelers' other pass rushers -- they've led the NFL in sacks a record five consecutive seasons -- maybe having one of your front four guys being nothing more than someone who is going to push the pocket isn't necessarily the worst thing, either. If Davis is slamming a guard into the face of the quarterback on passing downs and demands a double team, that has value, as well.
After all, Heyward and Watt already get a lot of that kind of attention. If Davis is demanding double teams, it could free up Heyward, in particular, more. That might even extend his career.
Davis compares himself to former Jaguars star John Henderson. Henderson was never a big pass rusher, but finished his career with 29 sacks. And he never left the field while making the Jaguars a pain to play against.
"One person I really honed in on was John Henderson of the Jacksonville Jaguars," Davis said. "A very old name. Not a lot of kids say that nowadays. He's just one of those guys when I first started watching football that I was drawn to. He's one of those guys I study. We're compatible in stature, size. In my eyes he's one of the greats."
