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Continuing our analysis of the Pittsburgh Steelers 90-man roster, we go back to the defensive side of the football to look at a young defensive end ready to put his stamp on the 2016 defense.
Player: Stephon Tuitt
Position: DE
School: Notre Dame
Overview:
2014 second round pick Stephon Tuitt is oozing with upside. 2016 is a huge opportunity for him to make his mark on the NFL and elevate himself into an elite NFL interior defender. Explosiveness and athleticism are the words that come to mind when watching his 2015 game tape, and he produced well notching 6.5 sacks in his 990 snaps. (11th most amongst NFL defensive linemen) From a technical standpoint, it appears that he has room to grow from a pass rushing standpoint as he can rely too heavily on getting a jump on his opponent, and end up a tad too high allowing the offensive linemen enough leverage to take him out of the play. That should terrify the rest of the NFL because Tuitt is a renowned workout warrior, and has been spotted pushing insane amounts of weight on the heavy sled with none other than James Harrison during this offseason. As he continues to grow physically and if he can develop an arsenal of pass rushing moves the Steelers could be in quite the enviable position when it comes to their defensive line going forward.
Strengths:
Exceptional at holding his point of attack on pass rush
Releases well from block
Extremely athletic and disruptive
At 23 is still young, and already gained significant experience as a starter
Weaknesses:
Injury prone
At times, plays to high and does not display proper “pad level”
Chances of Making the team: 100%