Just two games into his NFL career, DeMarvin Leal performed a position switch.
But will it last?
With star T.J. Watt out because of injury and a dearth of depth at outside linebacker, Leal played the position most often for the Pittsburgh Steelers during their Week 2 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Leal was taken with the 20th pick of the third round as a defensive lineman, and he practiced with that position group throughout training camp and the preseason.
“Big opportunity just to find a different way to get on the field,” Leal said Tuesday.
“Everything went petty fine. It’s a new position… It’s not the technique I was focused on throughout the whole rookie camp and OTAs and everything.”
According to Pro Football Focus, 14 of Leal’s 16 defensive snaps played against the Patriots differed in where he lined up from the 17 defensive snaps he played in the season-opening win at the Cincinnati Bengals. Thirteen snaps against New England were from the edge, where he rotated with the likes of Jamir Jones and Delontae Scott in support of Alex Highsmith and fill-in starter Malik Reed.
The 6-foot-4 Leal said he was playing between 300-305 pounds.
“He is a good enough athlete to move out there (to the edge of the defense),” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “He gave us some good things, like a really nice play on the screen that he almost intercepted. He’s a big, athletic guy. The nice thing is, he gives us flexibility that we can move and play him in different positions. Where that ends up at the end of the year, we’ll find out.”
Leal’s promise popped during the #Steelers’ open camp practices just as they did when he was accumulating 8½ sacks in the SEC last season.https://t.co/SmlOzqXi8U
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) September 6, 2022
Leal was considered something of a “tweener” coming out of Texas A&M. With a combine weight of 290 pounds, some questioned if he was big enough to play on the interior of an NFL defense.
But with the Steelers stacked with depth on the d-line and in something of a crisis mode on the outside, bumping Leal out was a creative fix.
Against the Patriots, Leal had two tackles (one solo) and the pass defense that Austin referenced.
Leal joins second-year Isaiahh Loudermilk as youngsters among a seven-man defensive line position room in which the other five members combine for 43 seasons of NFL experience.
“He’s fitting in well,” Larry Ogunjobi said of Leal. “He’s transitioning really well, and he plays with a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm. So I am excited for him.”
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