The smallest left tackle in the league, in both height and weight. Being an after thought after being selected in the 7th round of the NFL Draft. Does any of this deter Pittsburgh Steelers left tackle Kelvin Beachum? No, it doesn't, and his tenacity is a large reason why Pro Football Focus (PFF) has ranked the Steelers every day left tackle No. 67 in their Top 100 list.
Take a look at what they had to say about Beachum being ranked at No. 67:
67. Kelvin Beachum, LT, Pittsburgh Steelers (Unranked)
The Steelers really stumbled into a franchise left tackle, right? Not many would have seen the seventh-round pick as the solution back in 2012, but he has proven that with his best year to date. He's not a dominant run blocker, but you want your left tackle to slow edge rushers down and giving up just 24 quarterback disruptions all year shows Beachum is more than capable of that.
Best Performance: Week 11, PIT @ TEN, +5.0
Key Stat: Had the second-best pass blocking efficiency of all left tackles with a 97.8 score.
The 'Key Stat' might be the most impressive aspect of Beachum and what he brings to the table as a left tackle. As undersized as he is, he works his hands better than most tackles and it shows in his pass blocking efficiency. Beachum still has to improve on his run blocking and handling bigger pass rushers, but he is still a young player who happens to be learning from possibly the best offensive line coaches in the NFL in Mike Munchak.
Beachum is just one part of a Steelers offensive line which has been improving by leaps and bounds the past two seasons. As each individual player gets more repetitions and more experience with one another, the more cohesive they become. The Steelers will most likely look to lock up Beachum with a contract sooner than later to keep him protecting Ben Roethlisberger's blind side for year's to come.