Alabama's DJ Dale Looking to Reunite With Steelers' Karl Dunbar

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Pittsburgh Steelers head into the offseason with a plethora of questions, few more perplexing than the state of their defensive line around veteran star Cam Heyward.

All hands are on deck in Indianapolis for the NFL Combine, and they've begun interviews with several of the talented defensive lineman with hopes to potentially find one (or potentially even two) talented pieces to add to the unit.

One of those potential options could be Alabama's DJ Dale, one of the rare four-year contributors for the Crimson Tide defense. In their defense, Dale's primary niche was to be an anchor against the run, and it was a role that he filled quite well throughout his time in college.

"It's definitely something that I take pride in," Dale said on his run-stopping. "Our first job at Alabama is to stop the run and playing nose tackle in the middle, I got a lot of double teams. I took pride in that, getting those linebackers free and it was something that I was proud of."

Dale put up a career-high 14 pressures and three sacks in 2022, albeit in limited pass-rushing snaps. I asked him about expanding his game as a pass rusher, and he explained that it's finding out what works best for him.

"Everything you see on videos and what people may coach you might not be for you, but right now, I am focusing on what works for me and I feel like I'm getting better," Dale said.

He confirmed that he has met with the Steelers multiple times with the first meeting coming down in Mobile, Alabama at the Senior Bowl. The second time was at the combine where he saw a familiar face, Steelers defensive line coach Karl Dunbar.

"I talked to Coach Dunbar the first day that I was here," Dale said. "I like Coach Dunbar, he recruited me out of high school when he was at Alabama. We talked about back when I was in tenth grade and he actually came to see me and Labryan Ray play against each other in high school. So we've had a lot of good talks."

Dale's NFL future will obviously depend on the scheme and role that he lands within early on. He's largely been deployed as a 2-gap nose tackle who frees up his teammates to move freely, but in the NFL, he may struggle a little bit more to take on those double teams from bigger, more powerful athletes. But even so, he still carries plenty of value as a rotational piece and potential 3T in the Steelers scheme.

Dale is likely to hear his name called on day three of the NFL Draft, similar to where former Steelers defensive lineman Isaiah Buggs came off the board back in 2019. If Dale continues to round out his game and add to his pass-rushing repertoire, he could carve out quite a career for himself.

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