Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin Is A Fan Of Dontari Poe

Dontari Poe is an elite nose guard, so says Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.

Tomlin took a moment during his press conference to talk about the accomplishments of Poe and how he compares to some of the other nose tackles – primarily Haloti Ngata – the Steelers have faced. Turns out Poe is really good, according to Tomlin.

"“He is an elite nose guard. He is a former first-rounder. He is one of those unique, big-bodied guys. He is 340 pounds and is capable of playing a large number of snaps. He is similar to Haloti Ngata in that way. I can’t think of many other 340 pound guys that play as many snaps as Poe as Ngata that we play. He is in good company from that standpoint. His statistics reflect that.”"

Through fourteen games Poe has 23 pressures, including six sacks and a quarterback hit and 28 stops. Those numbers come even though Poe plays virtually every snap for the Chiefs. At 848 snaps, Poe has played 80 more snaps than the defensive tackle/nose tackle with the second most snaps played (Ndamukong Suh). Between Poe, Suh, and Jared Odrick, no other interior defensive lineman has played over 700 snaps. Poe has obviously cleared that by miles.

Considering all of the abuse Poe receives at nose tackle, it’s pretty impressive how much production he’s had. From week 10 to week 14 Poe played all but 10 snaps, which makes it very difficult for an interior lineman to maintain success. At some juncture the Chiefs are going to need to get him a legit backup or some extra depth to the defensive line, but for now what Poe is doing is pretty remarkable.

Hopefully Poe doesn’t run completely out of gas over these last few weeks.