Fewer than half of the NFL's defenses operate under the 3-4 base system, but the Steelers have been notorious for carving championship teams out of this style since first implementing it in the early 1980s.
It might not be the most common formation used nowadays, even by the Steelers' standard. A nickel-based defense oftentimes has come to use in order to protect against the pass, with a nose tackle removed in order to place an extra cornerback in the secondary.
That doesn't mean the nose tackle position is becoming -- or will be -- of less importance.
The Steelers' offseason told us that, with the drafting of Keeanu Benton in the middle of the second round and the signings of Armon Watts and Breiden Fehoko to fortify the middle and crouch down alongside Cam Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi. Depth up the middle was a need, especially with the departure of Tyson Alualu and with Montravius Adams and DeMarvin Leal playing multiple positions last season, and Omar Khan addressed it in an under-the-radar fashion.
Benton is a rookie with athleticism and pedigree from a solid college program in Wisconsin, while veterans Watts and Fehoko bring the desired traits for run stopping that a nose tackle needs to possess for a room that needed help going into this offseason.
"It's working out great," Steelers defensive line coach Karl Dunbar said during mandatory minicamp. "You've got a bunch of new guys and it makes you have to go back to the drawing board to teach them the basic way we do things, but it's good. It keeps the group hungry, I think, getting the new blood in there, so it's always fun."
Watts has come a long way since being drafted in the sixth round in 2019. He tallied career highs of 46 tackles, 5.0 sacks, two forced fumbles, and 10 quarterback hits while playing in all 17 games and starting nine for the Vikings in 2021. He was cut at the end of training camp in 2022 but landed with the Bears, where he totaled 35 tackles and a sack while starting 12 games and playing in all 17.
Fehoko is more of the piece to help make up for the loss of Alualu as the prototypical run stopper. While the undrafted tackle didn't log playing time until Week 10 last season, he was still second among Chargers defensive tackles in snaps played. His impact in stopping the run was noticeable, as well. In games when Fehoko played fewer than 50% of snaps, the Chargers allowed 145.5 rushing yards per game. In the games when Fehoko played more than 50% of snaps, the Chargers allowed 136.0 yards per game.
"I love him because he's an LSU Tiger," Dunbar said with a grin, "and he gives us a little stability at nose tackle. A guy that's been in the league for a while so I think that's the thing. He raises the competition bar at that position for us."
Fehoko offered his thoughts on the nose tackle position as a whole, comparing it to the fullback on offense. As passing offenses become prevalent throughout the league and quarterbacks continue to display more athleticism than ever, the necessity for a nose tackle and one that specializes in plugging up the middle changes to a necessity for players that can run sideline to sideline in order to account for these offenses.
"I think it's a fallen art," Fehoko said this offseason. "I think everybody just recruits tackles. When you throw 'nose' in front of the tackle, everybody just thinks bigger bodied and wide-type. Vince Wilfork or Casey Hampton. The general embodiment of the nose tackle is that they don't run the ball between the tackles, from B-gap to B-gap, you want to make sure the lanes are technically blocked. I take a lot of pride in that. I take a lot of pride making sure they don't run between the tackles. I take a lot of pride in getting my hands on the center and making sure he doesn't climb to the linebackers."
Dunbar still has plenty of mixing and matching to sort out for his interior linemen, which he noted could go as many as eight players deep. Benton, Fehoko, and Watts will be the main cogs to that mix, while he hinted at Benton's potential to play both as a nose tackle and a defensive end.
"The thing you look for in a 3-4 defense is a big, athletic nose tackle," Dunbar said. "So, a guy who can rush the passer and do all of those things you want a guy to do, any guy who is stout enough to play against the run, and that's the thing. But, he's absolutely right about -- you don't know you need one until you need one, because big guys are hard to find, man, and I used to have a coach who used to tell me, 'big guys are like pretty women. Everybody wants one but there's not a lot of them out there.' It's a good problem, and we've got some big, good bodies that we can put in there."
