It’s a position group at which the three of the four players who played most often in 2023 will enter this season with an average age of 31.3. Two of those three missed time because of injury; the other has regularly sat out practice in a continued maintenance effort after 2022 foot surgery.
In that context, “the best ability is availability” perhaps applies to what the Pittsburgh Steelers were seeking in defensive linemen in the draft. When it comes to the defensive line, the Steelers need to add young, healthy, capable bodies in their continued effort to prepare for a future (at some point) without Cameron Heyward, Larry Ogunjobi and Montravius Adams — who respectively will soon turn 35, 30 and 29.
Enter a player who made 41 consecutive starts to close out his college career at what had been one of the best defenses in the country.
Sixth-round pick Logan Lee took pride in his durability over his time at Iowa.
“Toughness,” Lee said in explaining how he maintained such a starts streak, “and being able to put yourself out there each and every day, and then being very detailed with your recovery and your preparation throughout the week and throughout the offseason as well.”
No one played more games on the Iowa defense over the past three seasons than the 6-foot-5 Lee. Iowa’s lowest season ranking in either points or yardage allowed in 2022 or 2023 among the 134 FBS programs was sixth in scoring two years ago.
Lee was honorable mention all-Big Ten each season by both coaches and media.
“We know and understand his pedigree, where he comes from, and what (those attributes) did allow,” Steelers defensive line coach Karl Dunbar said. “And that’s the thing when taking him at this position makes it good for the Steelers.”
Dunbar said the Steelers envision Lee having the capability to line up anywhere on the D-line from nose tackle out to an end outside the opposing offensive tackle.
Lee’s official Iowa bio listed him at 251 pounds, the official NFL post-combine profile for Lee put him at 281 pounds, the Steelers have him at 286 on their updated roster — but Dunbar referenced Lee weighing 295.
The listed weights of the seven D-linemen who played for the Steelers last season range from 290-307 pounds, with only the two who played the fewest (DeMarvin Leal and Isaiahh Loudermilk) listed at 295 or less.
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“(Lee) has the girth for his 295 pounds that he could play outside because he has a little speed,” Dunbar said, “but he’s going to be mostly an interior-guy defensive end in our 3-4 package.”
Lee joins a position group that features promising 2023 second-round pick Keeanu Benton and two players in Loudermilk (a 2021 draft pick) and Leal (2022 third rounder) whose careers are at a crossroads. That quartet is set to support veterans Dean Lowry (a free agent signee who missed eight games because of a pectoral injury last season and turns 30 in June), Adams (who missed all but two snaps of four 2023 games because of an ankle injury), Ogunjobi (whose chronic foot injury significantly limits his practice time) and Heyward, who acknowledges that his 2023 season was hampered significantly by a groin injury that limited him to 11 games.
The reigning Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, though, Heyward is an ideal mentor for any rookie defensive lineman.
“I’m ecstatic,” Lee said. “It’s going to be a great opportunity for me to be able to have a guy to look up to and learn some tips from. He’s been doing that at an extremely high level for a long time. I look forward to being able to work with him.”
The Steelers appear to be getting a player in Lee whose rookie status belies his maturity. Lee will turn 24 on the first day of June minicamp — and will be celebrating his first wedding anniversary three weeks later.
That might or might not correlate to steady play in the NFL. The Steelers, though, were willing to bet the 178th overall pick on Lee’s total package.
“We were just looking for the right fit at the right time,” Dunbar said, “and I think we got that with Logan Lee.”
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.