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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Patrick Graham looks forward to carrying the Steelers’ long history of having a 3-4 defense. The 3-4 has been the Steelers’ base defense for over four decades.
Graham stressed that the big’s up front are the biggest key in a 3-4 defense.
“When you look at my time in New England, my time with the Giants, and then over the history here with Pittsburgh, you’re going to notice they have big men on the roster. That’s the most important part,” Graham said. “So when you start to talk about the 3-4, the big guys on the roster, people like Cam [Heyward], people like KB [Keeanu Benton], people like [Yahya] Black, [Derrick] Harmon, these are big human beings.
“That’s where you’ll find those guys right there. I think that Pittsburgh’s been really disciplined, and that’s a credit to Omar {Khan}, Mr. Rooney and the organization. They’ve been really disciplined in terms of that profile and that serves them well.”
Veteran Cam Heyward will play in his 16th season in 2026, and he’s shown no signs of slowing down. Keeanu Benton, Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black are all promising young defensive lineman. The Steelers also got a key depth piece in Sebastian Joseph-Day this offseason.
Graham also revealed that the team will run a 2-4-5 in sub packages. He thinks the Steelers have a ton of versatility and flexibility.
At the NFL Owners Meetings last month, Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy said he felt he “was able to get into a rhythm” working with Dom Capers in Green Bay. The two were together for nine seasons with the Packers and met for an hour and 15 minutes early each morning.
McCarthy coached with Graham in Green Bay, so he has a lot of familiarity and trust in him.
“If you’re gonna call the (offensive) plays, you’ve gotta be in the room,” McCarthy said. “You’ve gotta be in the decision. I have to be in that quarterback room, so you can’t be in all of those places at once. It’s ridiculous to try. I’ve known Patrick for quite some time. He knows how I feel about the history of this defense. Dom Capers, Bill Cowher put this system in in 1992. Mike Tomlin’s done a great job of carrying it forward.
“So we’re looking to build off of what’s in place. We’re not throwing away everything and starting over.”
McCarthy actually tried adding Capers to his Steelers staff, which would’ve marked a return to the Steel City for the former Pittsburgh defensive coordinator (1992-94), but couldn’t make it fit. Capers ended up joining the Cleveland Browns as a senior defensive assistant.
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
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