Crisan: Five storylines to watch in this weekend's rookie minicamp taken on the South Side (Steelers)

ABIGAIL DEAN / STEELERS

Players work out in the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex weight room this month.

The new era begins for the Steelers this weekend, as the latest crop of draftees blend with those undrafted, bringing their potential and hopes to make a 53-man roster come this NFL regular season.

The Steelers made Broderick Jones their first offensive lineman taken in the first round since 2012, and they followed it up with a family legacy selection in Joey Porter Jr. with the 32nd overall pick to kick off the second round.

Those are, clearly, the headliners of this weekend's three-day rookie minicamp event -- two of which are open to media access, on Friday and Saturday, with a closed session on Sunday on the South Side.

With those two in mind, here are five more reasons to be intrigued about the rest of the incoming class as rookie minicamp is set to begin:

1. Is Keeanu Benton the heir apparent?

The nose tackle position has seen players come and go, with a couple of solid players in between, over the last handful of years.

By selecting Benton with the 49th overall pick in the draft, there is hope that the former Wisconsin middle man can be the driving force of the Steelers' run defense for years to come.

Benton stood out in the Senior Bowl showcase, and he is coming off of a productive senior season at Wisconsin. He was third-team All-Big Ten selection while tallying 36 tackles, 10.0 for loss and 4.5 sacks in 12 games for the Badgers last season.

The only "true" nose tackle as defined by the Steelers' official roster is Breiden Fehoko, though the expectation is for Larry Ogunjobi, Armon Watts, and DeMarvin Leal to continue to see snaps on the defensive interior.

Cam Heyward has a lot left in the tank for a 34-year-old, and will be an excellent mentor for a player of Benton's caliber. Heyward has been the one, dominant force across the defensive interior on a consistent basis, and with some mentorship, the potential for Benton to take that torch some day is there.

"It’s just a place where I can develop my game," Benton said the night he was drafted. "I’m not sure where they want me to play at just yet, but I’m just ready to take off with my NFL career. ... I think I’ll fit in best between the 0 and the 3 (techniques). I’m just grateful to have the opportunity. I think that they have a kind of similar set to us at Wisconsin, and I’m just happy to get it started."

2. Nick Herbig as an outside linebacker.

Denzel Martin said Herbig was set to join the outside linebackers room, after the Steelers selected the Wisconsin pass rusher in the fourth round. While he was productive on the line for the Badgers, he does check in at right around 240 pounds. 

Once the draft navigates into Day 3 -- read, the fourth through seventh rounds -- upside becomes a desirable trait with prospects. There is, of course, the expectation that Herbig immediately contributes on a respective level, alongside T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith leading the way for the team's edge rushers.

Question Herbig's size if you might, but his production at Wisconsin alongside Benton was unquestionable. He led the Badgers with 11.0 sacks, and his 15.5 tackles for loss led the Big Ten. The Badgers ran a base 4-3 defense, which is likely prompting the move to outside linebacker and 3-4 edge rusher, but time will tell of his adjustment process once he gets going in Teryl Austin's defense.

"I’m just thinking they want me to come in and be a dog, and that’s what I do," Herbig said. "So, whatever they want me to do, I’m going to do it, 100 percent."

3. Cory Trice's readiness.

As I have written in this space before, seventh round picks are seventh round picks for a reason. There is the aforementioned upside quotient to consider in that final round of the draft, and Trice certainly appears to bring it at the cornerback position. 

Now, discovering if this is a "hit" rather than a "miss" of a seventh-round pick can take longer than, for example, finding out if Herbig was a "hit" or a "miss" for a fourth-rounder, but Trice had a lot to like about what he did at Purdue. Trice overcame a high ankle sprain and a torn ACL sustained in 2021 that limited him to two games that season, before getting back on track for 13 starts in 2022. While productive with a team-high 10 pass breakups in his final season as a Boilermaker, the injury risk is obviously present from his past.

For being pick No. 241 in the draft, Trice was valued at 77th on Pro Football Focus' big board entering the draft. He also profiles similar to Porter Jr., as each came from a Big Ten program, measured above 6-foot-2 at the NFL Combine and had comparable athletic testing results at the NFL Combine.

His size might prompt some to believe he can move to safety, but ...

"Honestly, I think I’m a corner," Trice said. "Obviously, that’s what I’ve been playing my whole career for the most part, but anything I can do to help the team win, I’m definitely willing to do that."

4. Spencer Anderson's versatility.

Another seventh-round selection, Anderson was brought in with the Steelers' final pick of the draft as a former do-all offensive lineman from Maryland. 

The term "versatile" gets thrown around far too often, but that descriptor fits what he did in his career as a Terrapin. He played at right tackle as a redshirt freshman in 2019, then played left tackle and center as a redshirt sophomore, then moved between right tackle and center as a redshirt junior, and landed at right guard and right tackle as a redshirt senior.

With Jones locked in at left tackle, Isaac Seumalo at left guard, Mason Cole at center, James Daniels at right guard, and Chukwuma Okarafor at right tackle, the presumptive starters for the 2023 season are in place. Anderson will have to battle for a roster spot, in all likelihood, but there is upside to like about the 2021 All-Big Ten selection as a seasoned college player who had in-game experience at four of the five spots on the offensive line.

"I feel like it helps a lot," Anderson said. "In the NFL, snaps are limited and seasons are limited when you’re stuck at one position so I feel like me adding the versatility to the team is definitely a bonus when teams usually travel with seven to eight linemen, if that. It’s always a good help when you can help at all five spots on the offensive line."

5. The UDFAs.

The Steelers struck gold in finding backup running back Jaylen Warren in last year's undrafted free agent class. 

With seven priority undrafted free agents locked in the Sunday after the draft and others trickling in between then and leading into Friday, there are plenty of names to monitor as potential risers and competitors for roster spots.

Among the "priority" signings, Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan is, as we enter the weekend, the presumptive third quarterback on the Steelers' roster behind Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky. Clemson place-kicker and former Lou Groza Award semifinalist B.T. Potter was signed to bring some more familiarity to the "emergency" scenarios surrounding any potential absence of Chris Boswell, as we saw last season. There is also electrifying kick and punt returner Jordan Byrd, who earned All-Mountain West accolades for his services at San Diego State.

Those three were among the priority class, but there is some familiarity with the rest of those earning a tryout this weekend.

Former Pitt linebacker Tylar Wiltz will return to the South Side among these free agents. He was a solid rotational player for Pat Narduzzi and stepped into a major role behind SirVocea Dennis and Shayne Simon in the Panthers' linebackers room as the season progressed, leading to four tackles and a sack in the Panthers' Sun Bowl win over UCLA.

There are also a pair of XFL talents who were reportedly invited to the South Side: Offensive tackle Chidi Okeke and wide receiver Hakeem Butler. Butler is the most notable of the two as he was a fourth-round pick of the Cardinals (103rd overall) in 2019. He was cut prior to the start of the 2020 season and hasn't stuck with an NFL team just yet, but he recently led the XFL with eight touchdowns while catching 51 passes for 599 yards with the St. Louis Battlehawks.

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