The Pittsburgh Steelers made Texas A&M's DeMarvin Leal a very happy man when they called him to let him know they were selecting him with their third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Leal was the only defensive player the Steelers selected in their first 5 selections.
Steelers' DeMarvin Leal takes the ball away versus Auburn (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
He comes to help a defensive front that was struck by injuries and tragedy last season. Tyson Alualu was injured in week 2, and Stephon Tuitt missed the entire season while he dealth with the death of his brother, and a knee injury. Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert had some positive news regarding Tuitt this past week, but until he hits the practice field, he's still an unknown.
With second-year man Isaiahh Loudermilk growing, and the addition of Leal the Steelers are beginning to re-tool a defensive line that is getting up there in age. They also brought back Martavius Adams who was signed last year off of the New Orleans Saints practice squad. He was an immediate upgrade over some of the players the Steelers were running out onto the field.
Leal told Steelers.com reporter Missi Matthews that he was hopful that it would be the Steelers who selected him, because of the relationship he developed with defensive line coach Karl Dunbar.
I wanted to come here, so it was a no brainer when I got that call from Pittsburgh," Leal said. "So, I was more waiting on it this time. So, it was just all God's timing as well. So I was blessed when I first got it." When asked why he wanted to come to Pittsburgh he answered. "Coach Dunbar. He's a fantastic coach and he has ties with my defense line coach at A and M as well. When we first met, it was just automatically clicked.
The Steelers paid plenty of Leal leading up to the draft, and when the defensive lineman slipped a little bit he fell right into their hands.
We hopped on a few phone calls and then we also had dinner after my pro day and that was good for 2 hours. Just me and him just talking up, talking about ball and each other, just personal life, things that we like to do and everything. So it just went extremely well.
When Matthews asked Leal what type of player Dunbar was getting this was his response:
He's getting somebody waiting to give his all, just somebody that's going to be fully committed. I want to sink in as much wisdom as I can.
The AP named Leal a first-team All-American in 2021, SEC coaches voted him a first-team all-conference pick and he was named a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation’s top defensive end after racking up 58 tackles, 12.5 for loss with 8.5 sacks, and two pass breakups in 12 starts.
