The Pittsburgh Steelers rounded out their defensive line when they drafted Logan Lee in the 2024 NFL Draft. The 24-year-old rookie came to Pittsburgh by way of Iowa and will look to crack the rotation of the defensive line this season. For him to accomplish that, Lee must first learn the playbook but more importantly, learn how to be a professional.
In a room full of veterans, besides DeMarvin Leal and Keeanu Benton, Lee found himself in a great situation as he was taken under the wing by some of the veterans.
“It’s great to have the vets that are here, being willing to help you grow and help you with fine tuning things because there is a lot that you can miss if you are trying to see everything at once,” Lee told Alan Saunders of Steelers Now. “Just having them talk to you and tell you to slow it down and pick one thing for you to improve on each day, that helps a lot. The vets, the system, the culture is great.”
Even though most of the guys in that position room are older than he is by a fair margin, Lee says that he fits right in with them and the camaraderie between feels like a group of friends.
“It feels like I fit in right away, it is very welcoming, very willing to help,” Lee said. “It just seems like a group of buddies, it is really neat having that connection right away.”
The other neat thing about the connection is that most of the defensive lineman came from a Big Ten school. Lee said that guys from those schools are a “bunch of gritty folk.”
While the veteran players are showing Lee the way on the field, what shocked him the most was how patient the coaches are when it comes teaching the players. Lee stated that what scared him the most about coming to the NFL was how impatient he thought the coaches would be but said that it has actually been the opposite to what he originally thought.
“The biggest thing is that they are pretty reasonable with the tempo of their install,” Lee said. “I would have expected it to be firehosed down your throat just trying to grab onto one or two things. It is really reasonable being able to pick up on two or three installs each day and being able to stack days. I think that was the most shocking and what I was a little bit nervous about was trying to learn the entire defense right away and they are not asking you to do that.”
Other than the coaches patience, another thing that caught Lee’s attention was the similarities between Iowa and the Steelers, but he was not talking about the uniform colors but rather the head coaches longevity as their respective jobs.
“You know what to expect [with a coach like Mike Tomlin,]” Lee said. “You know the consistency of a guy like that. They wouldn’t be where they are if they aren’t that consistent. Just being able to have a guy day-in and day-out bring the same energy, whether that’s Coach Ferentz or Coach Tomlin, there is a lot of parallels between the two organizations.”
Lee is log jammed behind some more experienced players like Leal, Dean Lowry and Isaiahh Loudermilk which means he will have to have a great showing at training camp and in the preseason for him to solidify himself a spot on the active roster this year.
74 • Logan Lee, Defensive End, Iowa
6-foot-5, 281 pounds, 24 years old, 1st Season
Acquired: The Steelers drafted Lee with the second pick of the sixth round (178th overall) of the 2024 NFL Draft. Lee is the first Iowa player that the Steelers drafted since they took linebacker Mike Humpal in the 2008 NFL Draft.
Last season:Lee stayed consistent from his redshirt junior to redshirt senior seasons. In 2023, Lee started all 14 games at defensive tackle and posted a similar stat line to his 2022 season. He tallied 55 combined tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss, three sacks, and three passes defended.
His best game of his final season came against Purdue when Lee logged 10 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.
Iowa Hawkeyes defensive lineman Logan Lee (85) blocks a field goal attempt during the first quarter of their Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series game at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa on Saturday, September 9, 2023. (Stephen Mally/hawkeyesports.com)
College:Lee arrived at Iowa in 2019 but found himself as a redshirt player for his first collegiate season. In 2020, Lee earned playing time but in a limited role as he appeared in just two games as a redshirt freshman. He recorded one tackle in 2020.
In 2021, Lee found himself as a starter on the Hawkeyes defensive line as he started all 14 games of the season at defensive tackle. In his first season as a starter, Lee racked up 48 tackles, five tackles for a loss, three sacks, and one pass defended.
The following season, Lee stepped his game up as he started all 13 games at defensive tackle. As a redshirt junior, Lee collected 54 total tackles, including eight for a loss, three sacks, three quarterback pressures, three pass break-ups, and he recovered one fumble.
In total at Iowa, Lee logged 41 starts in his 43 appearances. He tallied 158 total tackles, 18.5 tackles for a loss, nine sacks and seven passes break-ups over his five years as a Hawkeye.
Iowa Hawkeyes defensive lineman Logan Lee (85) during their game against Purdue at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa on Saturday, October 7, 2023. (Owen Aanestad/hawkeyesports.com)
| Year | GP | TKLs | TFLs | Sacks | FFs | Passes Def. |
| 2019 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 14 | 48 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 2022 | 13 | 54 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2023 | 14 | 55 | 5.5 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Salary cap and future:Since the Steelers drafted Lee, he is signed with the team through the 2027 season. His standard four-year rookie contract is worth $4.24 million in total. His cap hit in 2024 is listed at $850,018 which includes a base salary of $795,000 and a prorated bonus of $55,018.
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