May 5, 2016 6 min read

PITTSBURGH – Javon Hargrave passed his first two big tests on the way to the NFL. He showed he could compete with players from bigger schools at the college all-star games, then showed that athletically, he was as good as, if not better than them at the NFL Scouting Combine.

The South Carolina State nose tackle will get his third opportunity to show he belongs in the NFL today, when he takes part in a rookie mini-camp with the Steelers. The rookie camp ends Sunday.

Pittsburgh’s third-round pick in last weekend’s draft can’t wait. He grew up a fan of the Steelers, and is well-versed in what will be required of him to be perhaps the missing piece on what is expected to be a much-improved defense.

“The trophies,” Hargrave said of the first thing that stood out to him about his first trip to the Steelers’ facility for a pre-draft visit last month. “Growing up and seeing the championships, I tried not to show how happy I was to be there, but it was just like, ‘I’m really here?’ It was crazy. I kept telling everybody that Pittsburgh was my best trip, but they all thought it was because that was my favorite team growing up.

“They made you feel welcome and at home, so that was great for me.”

Hargrave (6-1, 309 pounds) will be thrown into the defensive line mix. Though the Steelers are happy to have a player who recorded 37 1/2 sacks at South Carolina State, Hargrave must be ready for some tough love.

Defensive line-assistant head coach John Mitchell is a perfectionist when it comes to defensive line work and he breaks young players down the way a drill sergeant before building them back up.

Mitchell gushes about Hargrave’s potential and what it could mean to Pittsburgh’s defense. Once they hit the practice field, the compliments will vanish until Hargrave consistently does things to Mitchell’s liking.

“I told this kid, I want to be his worst nightmare,” said Mitchell, who has been with the Steelers since 1994. “When he wakes up at night, I want him thinking about Coach Mitchell. When he looks in the mirror, I don’t want him to see himself; I want him to see me. This guy has to be a good football player.

“I don’t treat rookies very well. There’s a standard here. I want these guys to know, when they come and put on the black and gold, there’s a standard that’s going to be accepted.”

The Steelers first noticed Hargrave at the Senior Bowl in January. Hargrave was a late addition to the practices because of an injury to another player.

But he immediately stood out.

“He came in, his equipment hadn’t arrived yet, and he was in a white helmet,” said Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert. “He comes in with fresh legs. He was really having a productive practice. We didn’t even know who he was at that point because he hadn’t been officially added to the roster. From that point forward, this kid is a little different. He’s better than a 1-AA player. I think the things that he does naturally would translate anywhere else. He didn’t play the best competition every week. So now he gets his chance and we hope it works.”

The Steelers had a need at nose tackle after starter Steve McLendon left as a free agent for the Jets in the offseason. Third-year player Daniel McCullers remains on the roster, but played minimal snaps last season.

And the 6-7, 350-pound McCullers and Hargrave play a different style of nose tackle. While McCullers is a space-eater, Hargrave is effective because of a quick first step honed as a high school basketball player.

That quick first step helped him record 16 sacks as a junior – including an astounding six in a game against Bethune-Cookman – and 13.5 as a senior. He also had 62 tackles for a loss in college.

But, it might also be a hindrance in his dealings with Mitchell.

“He was so quick coming off the ball, he never had to use his hands,” said Mitchell, who said learning hand placement will be one of the biggest issues for Hargrave.

“In college football now, everybody wants to get to the quarterback. They just want to get upfield. In the National Football League, you’ve got to play run and pass. Since I’ve been here, the thing I want to do is stop the run. We were fifth in the run. That’s unacceptable to me, it’s unacceptable to the Steelers and it’s unacceptable to Coach (Mike) Tomlin. We want to be 1 or 2 against the run and that’s going to help our pass defense be better. When you’re fifth in the NFL against the run, that’s not good defense.”

The Steelers like Hargrave because he could give them some flexibility not only as a nose tackle, but as a pass rusher in their nickel and dime defenses.

McLendon rarely saw the field in those instances and it was normal to see defensive ends Cameron Heyward and Stephon Tuitt participate in 90 or more percent of the defensive snaps in a game. Mitchell wants to cut that back to 55 to 60 snaps per game for Heyward so Tuitt and Hargrave could help make that happen.

“I’m 300-plus pounds, but I feel like I have a high motor,” said Hargrave. “I can be on the field 30 to 50 plays because that’s all I did my whole life, just played every down.”

First, he has to pass through Mitchell’s gauntlet of tests and criticisms. If he does that, he’ll be just fine, despite being a small school guy.

“People worry about the competition (level). You can’t do anything about that,” Mitchell said. “Go look at the Senior Bowl, go look at the East-West, he got there late and he played against the big boys. I’m glad teams bypassed him because they were worried about him playing at South Carolina State.”