It wasn’t all that long ago that Cameron Heyward was a young rookie at Steelers training camp. Six years ago on these grounds at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Heyward was the Steelers’ first-round draft pick a few months after they lost Super Bowl XLV to the Green Bay Packers.
Now, if the coaches stick to their plans to start rookie T.J. Watt at outside linebacker, Heyward will be the oldest member of the front seven on defense. He’s not old, just 28 after his birthday in May, but he’s the wily veteran among a group of young and talented linemen and linebackers.
“I want to lead by example,” Heyward said Wednesday afternoon. “I want to challenge guys, just like I was challenged as a younger guy. I just want to get us to that Super Bowl no matter what.”
The Steelers had the No. 1 defense when Heyward was a rookie, and he barely played. Heyward learned from veterans such as Brett Keisel and Casey Hampton as the Steelers went 12-4 and made the playoffs.
It was a different time. The Steelers were deep and talented at almost every position and rookies had to wait their turn more often than not.
Now rookies are given the opportunity to start right away. Earlier this week outside linebackers coach Joey Porter named Watt the starter over veteran James Harrison, who turned 39 in May.
Here’s how much things have changed: The 2011 defense had seven starters who were 30 or older, including four who were 33 or older.
The starting defense this season has seven starters who are 24 or younger. Free safety Mike Mitchell is the elder statesman of the defense, and he just turned 30 in June.
Only Watt, 22, has not started an NFL game. Second-year cornerback Artie Burns is 22. Second-year safety Sean Davis is 23.
Outside linebacker Bud Dupree is 24 as are defensive linemen Stephon Tuitt and Javon Hargrave.
Inside linebacker Ryan Shazier will turn 25 early next month before the season opener in Cleveland. Vince Williams, the only other new starter on the defense, is 27.
“I think the potential is out of the roof,” Heyward said. “But potential is a scary word. You can’t just rely on that.”
Heyward paused and then made reference to the rookies.
“There will be a lot of growth,” he said. “There will be new guys in new positions. You have to be able to take that next step week in and week out. You can’t hit that rookie wall.”
Heyward, a team captain the past two seasons, was sending a message to Watt. There are high expectations after the Steelers advanced to the AFC championship, and there can’t be any learning curve for a defense that is looking to improve and help the Steelers win a Super Bowl for the first time in nearly a decade.
After steady improvement the past five seasons there has been talk the Steelers defense finally might get back to being among the top units in the NFL. Heyward has heard enough of the talk. Now it’s about proving it on the field.
“We’ll see,” he said. “Only time will tell. We can sit up here and talk about it, but we have to put the tape out there. We have a lot of guys who can do a lot of great things. I don’t want to get ahead of myself and say we’re this and we’re that because a lot of guys still have to prove some stuff.”
Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1.
First Published: August 16, 2017, 7:57 p.m.
Updated: August 16, 2017, 7:57 p.m.