Steelers' New Safety Keanu Neal Relishing Chance To Revive Intense Playing Style In 2023

The Pittsburgh Steelers have certainly been busy this offseason by any standards, but certainly when compared to those in Pittsburgh's past. They were active in free agency and shrewd in the draft, but one theme in particular kept popping up during the flurry of activity; trusting their instincts over injury concerns. 

Darnell Washington and Corey Trice Jr. both dealt with knee injuries during their collegiate careers and both became members of the Steelers on draft day. Prior to the NFL Draft though, Pittsburgh sought the free-agent services of a hard-hitting, harder-working safety who had also been through his share of injury setbacks, but just like in his career, Keanu Neal doesn't let anything get in his way.

Steelers' Offseason Plan Opened Door For Neal's Signing

The Steelers are only at the beginning of the physical side of the offseason, with organized team activities in its second week, and while many players dread the return to the practice field, for Neal it is the entire reason he plays this game. The physical, bruising nature of the game is what gets Neal up in the morning, so the prospect of being in a city that thrives on football physicality has put a spark in Neal's already-superb work ethic. 

Mike DeFabo of The Athletic heard precisely that from the horse's mouth as Neal grinned as he spoke about the history and foundation that exists on a Pittsburgh defense.

"Just being part of an organization that really loves that physicality, that bully ball. I want to be a part of that for sure."

For a player who is fueled by the gladiator-like atmosphere on a football field, Neal has had to battle through challenging moments that threatened not only his livelihood but the entire way he played the game. Lateral movement, acceleration and leg strength are all necessities for someone in Neal's position. But when injuries begin to occur especially serious ones, the questions stop revolving around the player's skill and start becoming about whether or not he will even be able to see the field, let alone be the same player he was before. 

After they did all their research and due diligence, though, the Steelers came to the conclusion that his past injuries would not stop Neal from being the intense tackler he knows himself to be.

Pittsburgh took a good long look at their roster after the 2022 season ended and realized that in order for their vision to become reality, there would need to be some reworking of the depth chart they had before them. Despite improving during 2022, the offensive line was addressed many times over (Isaac Seumalo, Broderick Jones and Nate Herbig), the lackluster linebacker room was gutted and repopulated (Elandon Roberts and Cole Holcomb) and then they turned their sights to the secondary, leading to the departures of Cameron Sutton and Arthur Maulet at outside and slot cornerback, respectively. 

Then, in a more surprising turn, they also let safety Terrell Edmunds sign with the Philadelphia Eagles. The moves had a purpose, though, as they followed the secondary cull by signing Patrick Peterson at cornerback, drafting tall, long cornerbacks in Trice Jr. and Joey Porter Jr., then bringing Demontae Kazee back into the fold.

Pieces were brought in to fill the question marks on the roster, but when the trio that was responsible for the offseason strategy (Omar Khan, Andy Weidl and Mike Tomlin) knew they needed a certain type of player to fill a multi-pronged approach, they found their man.

Steelers' Neal Has Shades Of Ryan Clark And Chris Hope

There will never be another Troy Polamalu, that is simply a fact, but any legitimate Steelers fan who watched Polamalu's career knew that the reason you got to see that wild hair flying from sideline to sideline wasn't only otherworldly talent. It was the knowledge that if anything went awry, Chris Hope had his back. The safety duo of Hope and Polamalu only lasted from 2003 to 2005, but it showed Pittsburgh a game plan that allowed Polamalu to excel because Hope could make up for the odd moment when Polamalu's instincts weren't perfect.

When Hope left for the Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh didn't want to lose that dynamic that Hope brought to Polamalu, and their signing of Ryan Clark made sure of it. Clark was a brutal hitter who never minded being in a clean-up role. If Polamalu missed a tackle or was slightly off on an angle, Clark was right there to bury the player into the grass.

An out-of-the-blue trade in the early part of the 2019 season sent Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Steelers and a first-round pick (along with a handful of other draft selections exchanged) went to the Miami Dolphins. Fitzpatrick has made that trade worthwhile in every way, but with the all-over style that he employs on the field, the Steelers went back to a past strategy to get the most out of their "all-over safety."

Steelers Excited About Neal's 2023 Versatility

For some NFL players, experiencing a severe injury can become both a mental and physical barrier between them and achieving their best on the football field, but for Neal, the injuries only made him more hungry to remain that same player that got him drafted at 17th overall by the Atlanta Falcons in 2016. 

He missed the first two games of his rookie season due to an MCL injury, 2018 he tore his ACL in the season opener which ended his campaign and then in 2019 he had yet another brutal, serious injury when he tore his Achilles in September and missed the remainder of that season as well. For a player who had chunks of his first several years in the league shortened by severe injuries, the unfortunate path tends to lead to early retirement or a career at third-string, but here Neal is, chomping at the bit to show that he has plenty to showcase in 2023.

Neal took a different development path than most, learning through patience, off-the-field focus and physical rehab while his peers were honing their craft on the football field. It wasn't just his body that was strengthened during those rehabilitation stretches. He was also working out his mind, preparing for when he returned to playing, readying for that first real contact, and becoming even more mentally tough.

"It was a process. Really fighting through, having that grit to get through."

Neal wasn't stubborn about the process either, adjusting his game without losing any intensity. If there was concern regarding his speed or ability to recover in coverage, something Neal had little control over due to the injuries over time, it meant that he would have to start excelling at the other aspects of his game and become irreplaceable for that reason. When the Falcons let Dan Quinn go to the Dallas Cowboys, Neal followed his coach, and the loyalty paid off as it was Quinn's work in Dallas that gave Neal another level to his game; being a linebacker.

“It definitely helped me in my game. I learned a lot down in the box. I knew how to fit gaps, but there’s a little more detail at the linebacker position, which was good.”

That effort to add linebacker skills to his craft should pay off this season, considering the linebackers' room has been an area of concern this offseason. If Neal can be that "extra" linebacker while also playing the Clark/Hope role for Fitzpatrick, this 2023 defense will have a quality that it has been missing for quite some time. From what Neal has pushed through, learned from and adjusted to become, the results should be just what the doctor ordered.