Terence Steele wasn’t supposed to see the field in 2020. A hip injury suffered by La’el Collins cost him the entire season and Steele made 14 starts as an undrafted free agent. What Stelle put on film left much to be desired and didn’t give anyone outside the team facility any confidence in his abilities as a reliable backup tackle.
Collins is currently serving a five-game suspension for missing multiple drug tests which he is appealing at the moment. This created yet another opportunity for Steele as he got the start in Week 2 against the Los Angeles Chargers. He would take on the task of trying to block one of the NFL’s best pass rushers in Joey Bosa, and with how he performed a season ago, the belief he could be serviceable was minimal, at best. However Steele gave an inspired performance in a huge road win for the Dallas Cowboys.
Steele logged 62 snaps against the Chargers. He would only allow three pressures and didn’t give up a sack en route to a 95.5 pass rush efficiency rate according to Pro Football Focus. His assignment, Bosa, had a rough go of it, in large part due to the play of Steele. Bosa didn’t log a sack, a quarterback pressure, or a tackle for loss and finished with just three total tackles.
Watch Terence Steele here on Ezekiel Elliott's TD run (#78) pic.twitter.com/e7WKUh17aD
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) September 21, 2021
If anyone outside the organization says they saw this kind of performance from Steele they wouldn’t be telling the truth. However, his Week 2 showing provides plenty of optimism about how he’ll continue to perform in the absence of Collins.
Team owner Jerry Jones announced on September 14 that Steele would get the start at right tackle, which seemed a bit premature. His proclamation turned out to be a great one though and he gave the second-year tackle a raving review for his efforts.
“One of my heroes of the game was Terence Steele, our right tackle,” Jones said. “I just thought he was outstanding. He’s been so consistent.”
Steele had help in his matchup against Bosa, as he should have. Zack Martin made his 2021 debut against the Chargers after missing the season opener due to being on the Reserve/COVID list and was looked at as the guy who would assist Steele the most. According to the perennial All-Pro, however, Steele didn’t need as much help as many thought he would.
“He played unbelievable,” Martin said. “We talked, if we had the center slide going right, trying to get out there and help him, and the times I did, he didn’t need it. He did an outstanding job.”
Well hello, Cowboys RT Terence Steele. pic.twitter.com/XtOc74Ej6E
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) September 21, 2021
The importance of being prepared is crucial for any football player but especially backups seeing as their number can be called at any moment with how players get injured weekly. Steele looked more than ready in Week 2 for his chance to showcase he’s a player the Cowboys can rely on.
“To play in this league, you have to have major confidence in yourself,” said Steele. “I worked my butt off this whole offseason, just for this moment, to prepare for this moment. I still have to continue to build off this. Bosa is one helluva player. That was a great team win.”
Putting Steele in the starting lineup seemed like a recipe for disaster with Bosa on the menu. The former Texas Tech Raider stepped up to the plate though and he deserves a lot of credit for how he performed against the Chargers.
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