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Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Steelers Snap Counts: Who Is Odd Man Out on Defensive Line?

Originally posted on Steelers Now | By Alan Saunders | Last updated 12/6/23

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be getting nose tackle Montravius Adams back for their Week 14 game against the New England Patriots, and that means that for the first time this season. the Steelers might have a chance to play a full game with a fully healthy defensive line.

It also means that someone will be coming out of the lineup, and it’s not clear at this point who that will be. In two other games, the Steelers have gone into a game with a full complement, only to lose one in the first half. That happened in Week 1, when Cam Heyward was lost to a groin injury, and in Week 9, when Adams hurt his ankle on the first defensive drive.

In both of those games, veteran defensive tackle Armon Watts was scratched from the Steelers lineup, with Larry Ogunjobi joining Adams and Heyward as starters and Keeanu Benton, DeMarvin Leal and Isaiahh Loudermilk as the second squad.

But the way Watts has been deployed so far this season might mean that someone else could find themselves without a helmet on Thursday night. Watts played 20 snaps in Week 13, the fourth-most on the line behind starters Benton, Heyward and Ogunjobi — and not all that far behind Benton, who played in 25 snaps while battling a minor oblique injury.

In Week 12, it was the same. Watts had the most snaps out of the second-team linemen, though he only played nine snaps as the Steelers offensive dominated time of possession and keep the defense rested. Leal played in three snaps in that game and Loudermilk two.

In the last four games, with Heyward back and Adams out, Leal has played a total of just 17 snaps. Watts has played 80. Loudermilk has played 48, Leal was a third-round pick and a player with a lot of promise coming out of Texas A&M in 2022, but it very well could be the youngster that winds up a healthy scratch when the defense gets healthy this time around.

The saving grace for Leal might be the distribution of the alignments. He has played 130 of his 197 snaps this season as a four-technique or wider, according to Pro Football Focus. That means he’s been playing over or outside the opposing team’s tackle, usually in as an end in the team’s 3-4 base defense. Watts has played 124 of his 217 inside the tackle, lining up mostly as a defensive tackle in the team’s four-man front sub packages, and occasionally as a nose tackle in the base defense. That’s the area where Adams will do most of his work.

The one-for-one-replacement would be to play Adams instead of Watts, giving the team two natural 3-4 units to work with. But the level of trust and faith the coaching staff has showed in Watts, compared to Leal and Loudermilk, makes it an open question who will get the last hat on the defensive line.

STEELERS OFFENSIVE SNAP COUNTS

Pos	Player	SF	CLE	LV	HOU	BAL	LAR	JAX	TEN	GB	CLE	CIN	ARI
QB	Kenny Pickett	63	54	62	49	66	59	28	65	65	58	71	30
QB	Mitch Trubisky	0	0	0	10	0	0	39	0	0	0	0	31
QB	Mason Rudolph	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3	QB3
RB	Najee Harris	33	31	31	29	37	34	35	38	33	33	38	36
RB	Jaylen Warren	25	23	28	29	32	27	32	26	33	26	34	36
RB	Anthony McFarland	5	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	1	0	INA	INA
RB	Qadree Ollison	—	0	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
RB	Godwin Igwebuike	—	—	INA	INA	INA	0	0	0	INA	INA	0	0
WR	George Pickens	56	46	55	58	58	53	62	58	62	53	53	49
WR	Diontae Johnson	27	IR	IR	IR	IR	39	61	57	53	50	52	44
WR	Allen Robinson II	56	47	50	50	57	38	46	47	50	45	45	33
WR	Calvin Austin III	35	41	45	53	37	7	18	17	13	10	18	9
WR	Miles Boykin	5	4	8	6	12	0	5	6	9	6	8	12
WR	Gunner Olszewski	INA	1	INJ	INA	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
TE	Pat Freiermuth	32	41	49	30	INJ	IR	IR	IR	IR	31	42	36
TE	Darnell Washingon	24	26	29	25	46	31	10	32	33	27	37	34
TE	Connor Heyward	17	10	13	15	37	51	49	40	34	8	24	19
TE	Rodney Williams II	—	—	—	—	4	11	12	3	3	0	4	5
LT	Dan Moore Jr.	63	54	62	8	INJ	59	66	65	65	58	71	61
RT	Chukwuma Okorafor	59	54	62	59	66	59	67	0	1	0	0	2
LG	Issac Seumalo	63	54	62	59	66	59	67	65	65	58	71	30
RG	James Daniels	63	54	62	INJ	INJ	59	67	65	65	58	71	61
C	Mason Cole	63	54	62	59	66	59	67	65	65	58	71	61
OT	Broderick Jones	4	0	0	51	66	0	5	65	65	58	71	61
OT	Dylan Cook	INA	INA	INA	0	0	INA	INA	INA	INA	INA	INA	INA
C/G	Nate Herbig	0	0	0	59	66	0	0	0	0	0	0	31
OL	Spencer Anderson	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
OL	Ryan McCollum	—	—	—	—	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

STEELERS DEFENSIVE SNAP COUNTS

Pos	Player	SF	CLE	LV	HOU	BAL	LAR	JAX	TEN	GB	CLE	CIN	ARI
DT	Larry Ogunjobi	43	51	49	46	48	49	53	50	44	53	30	56
DT	Montravius Adams	34	52	47	41	56	46	49	2	INA	INA	INA	INA
DE	DeMarvin Leal	26	39	33	21	INJ	23	14	24	4	5	3	5
NT	Keeanu Benton	29	28	21	29	33	19	30	48	45	39	22	25
DT	Armon Watts	INA	22	18	34	18	17	28	INA	22	27	9	22
DT	Isaiahh Loudermilk	31	14	9	13	13	0	9	14	8	18	2	20
DT	Cam Heyward	14	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	41	40	46	35	50
NT	Breiden Fehoko	—	INA	INA	INA	0	INA	INA	INA	INA	—	—	—
OLB	T.J. Watt	48	70	59	62	60	57	56	69	66	73	39	54
OLB	Alex Highsmith	49	68	52	63	61	53	63	63	63	66	40	61
OLB	Markus Golden	25	19	20	13	14	14	14	11	5	8	4	9
OLB	Nick Herbig	16	17	13	4	5	12	9	7	2	3	3	12
OLB	Kyron Johnson	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
ILB	Cole Holcomb	53	78	53	63	64	56	64	16	IR	IR	IR	IR
ILB	Kwon Alexander	47	52	47	27	31	47	38	64	9	IR	IR	IR
ILB	Elandon Roberts	29	27	17	42	29	19	31	37	65	75	43	15
ILB	Mark Robinson	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	41	0	0	44
ILB	Tariq Carpenter	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	—
ILB	Mykal Walker	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	63	33	65
CB	Patrick Peterson	67	85	71	71	63	67	71	74	68	74	41	53
CB	Levi Wallace	67	78	67	71	66	49	INJ	38	27	10	11	18
CB	Joey Porter Jr.	7	14	27	10	28	53	59	70	68	68	43	68
CB	James Pierre	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	0	0	12	0	0
CB	Chandon Sullivan	13	47	18	21	24	22	28	16	19	27	18	17
CB	Darius Rush	—	—	—	—	—	INA	0	30	INA	INA	9	INA
CB	Desmond King	—	—	0	0	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
FS	Minkah Fitzpatrick	68	46	72	71	70	68	8	INA	INA	INA	INA	68
S	Damontae Kazee	49	77	53	34	43	58	67	74	68	75	43	62
SS	Keanu Neal	33	61	41	45	42	17	69	66	56	IR	IR	IR
SS	Miles Killebrew	0	2	1	0	1	0	12	0	0	16	1	0
DB	Elijah Riley	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	21	9	IR	IR
SS	Trenton Thompson	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7	58	42	24