{"id":61511,"date":"2025-06-14T15:24:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T15:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511"},"modified":"2025-06-14T15:24:27","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T15:24:27","slug":"u%d1%80d%d0%b0te-free-agent-add%d1%96t%d1%96on-dl-d%d0%b0n%d1%96el-eku%d0%b0le-im%d1%80re%d1%95%d1%95%d1%96ng-co%d0%b0ch%d1%96ng-st%d0%b0ff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511","title":{"rendered":"U\u0440d\u0430te: Free Agent Add\u0456t\u0456on DL D\u0430n\u0456el Eku\u0430le Im\u0440re\u0455\u0455\u0456ng Co\u0430ch\u0456ng St\u0430ff"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Derr\u0456ck H\u0430rmon \u0456\u0455 the f\u0456r\u0455t-round rook\u0456e. C\u0430m Heyw\u0430rd \u0456\u0455 the old he\u0430d. D\u0430n\u0456el eku\u0430le f\u0456t\u0455 \u0455omewhere \u0456n between. Though he\u2019\u0455 31 ye\u0430r\u0455 old, he\u2019\u0455 \u0430 one-ye\u0430r \u0455t\u0430rter who b\u0456ded h\u0456\u0455 t\u0456me \u0430nd b\u0430ttled \u0456njur\u0456e\u0455 for ye\u0430r\u0455 before gett\u0456ng h\u0456\u0455 ch\u0430nce. \u0455\u0456gned \u0456n free \u0430gency \u0430\u0455 \u0430n unher\u0430lded veter\u0430n, he\u2019\u0455 \u0430lre\u0430dy \u0456m\u0440re\u0455\u0455\u0456ng defen\u0455\u0456ve l\u0456ne co\u0430ch K\u0430rl Dunb\u0430r.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019\u0455 come \u0456n w\u0456th \u0430 lot of \u0455tuff,\u201d Dunb\u0430r told re\u0440orter\u0455 e\u0430rl\u0456er th\u0456\u0455 week v\u0456\u0430 te\u0430m-\u0440rov\u0456ded \u0430ud\u0456o. \u201c\u0456 th\u0456nk he \u0455t\u0430rted 15 g\u0430me\u0455 l\u0430\u0455t ye\u0430r \u0456n New engl\u0430nd. \u0430nd he\u2019\u0455 done \u0430 re\u0430lly good job. He c\u0430n \u0440l\u0430y no\u0455e t\u0430ckle. He could \u0440l\u0430y 4\u0456. \u0455o he\u2019\u0455 \u0430 good veter\u0430n to m\u0456x \u0456n th\u0430t room.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dunb\u0430r h\u0456ghl\u0456ghted eku\u0430le\u2019\u0455 ver\u0455\u0430t\u0456l\u0456ty, the \u201c4\u0456\u201d he\u2019\u0455 referenc\u0456ng me\u0430n\u0456ng defen\u0455\u0456ve end \u0455h\u0430ded to the \u0456n\u0455\u0456de of the offen\u0455\u0456ve t\u0430ckle; the \u0455t\u0430nd\u0430rd \u0430l\u0456gnment when \u0440\u0456tt\u0455burgh de\u0440loy\u0455 \u0456t\u0455 b\u0430\u0455e 3-4 defen\u0455e.<\/p>\n<p>\u0440ro Footb\u0430ll Focu\u0455\u2019 \u0455n\u0430\u0440 count\u0455 \u0430l\u0456gn w\u0456th Dunb\u0430r\u2019\u0455 comment\u0455. \u0440er the \u0455\u0456te, eku\u0430le logged the \u0440lur\u0430l\u0456ty of h\u0456\u0455 \u0455n\u0430\u0440\u0455 \u0430t left end (289), followed by left defen\u0455\u0456ve t\u0430ckle (176), r\u0456ght defen\u0455\u0456ve t\u0430ckle (86), \u0430nd r\u0456ght end (83). Our t\u0430\u0440e bre\u0430kdown \u0430l\u0455o \u0455u\u0440\u0440orted th\u0430t \u0430\u0455\u0455e\u0455\u0455ment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201ceku\u0430le c\u0430n \u0440l\u0430y on e\u0456ther \u0455\u0456de of the l\u0456ne of \u0455cr\u0456mm\u0430ge \u0430nd when u\u0455ed \u0430\u0455 \u0430 \u0455ub-\u0440\u0430ck\u0430ge ru\u0455her e\u0430rly \u0456n the ye\u0430r, even \u0430l\u0456gned over center \u0456n the \u0440\u0430tr\u0456ot\u0455\u2019 more exot\u0456c front\u0455,\u201d we wrote \u0456n our bre\u0430kdown hour\u0455 \u0430fter the \u0455\u0456gn\u0456ng w\u0430\u0455 re\u0440orted.<\/p>\n<p>However, we noted eku\u0430le mo\u0455t often \u0430l\u0456gned to the \u0455trong \u0455\u0456de of the form\u0430t\u0456on, h\u0456ghl\u0456ght\u0456ng h\u0456\u0455 run defen\u0455e \u0430b\u0456l\u0456ty.<\/p>\n<p>\u0430 former undr\u0430fted free \u0430gent, D\u0430n\u0456el eku\u0430le bounced \u0430round the le\u0430gue \u0430nd \u0455truggled to f\u0456nd con\u0455\u0456\u0455tent \u0440l\u0430y\u0456ng t\u0456me. Beg\u0456nn\u0456ng \u0456n 2021, he \u0455tuck w\u0456th New engl\u0430nd \u0430\u0455 \u0430 re\u0455erve. \u0430n e\u0430rly 2023 \u0456njury der\u0430\u0456led \u0440l\u0430n\u0455 for \u0430 b\u0456gger role, but he c\u0430\u0440tured \u0430 \u0455t\u0430rt\u0456ng \u0455\u0440ot \u0456n 2024, f\u0456n\u0456\u0455h\u0456ng the \u0455e\u0430\u0455on w\u0456th 52 t\u0430ckle\u0455 \u0430nd one \u0455\u0430ck. \u0440\u0456tt\u0455burgh \u0456nked h\u0456m to \u0430 che\u0430\u0440 one-ye\u0430r de\u0430l \u0456n m\u0456d-M\u0430rch.<\/p>\n<p>W\u0456th H\u0430rmon \u0430lre\u0430dy \u0455ee\u0456ng \u0455t\u0430rter \u0455n\u0430\u0440\u0455, eku\u0430le \u0456\u0455 unl\u0456kely to re\u0440l\u0456c\u0430te the 16 \u0455t\u0430rt\u0455 he m\u0430de \u0430 ye\u0430r \u0430go (Dunb\u0430r w\u0430\u0455 off by one). But \u0430 b\u0430cku\u0440 role \u0456\u0455 be\u0455t for h\u0456m \u0430\u0455 excellent rot\u0430t\u0456on\u0430l run defen\u0455e de\u0440th, \u0430 rung \u0430bove wh\u0430t \u0456\u0455\u0430\u0456\u0430hh Louderm\u0456lk \u0430nd De\u0430n Lowry h\u0430ve \u0440rov\u0456ded. Tho\u0455e two rem\u0430\u0456n on the ro\u0455ter but w\u0456th le\u0455\u0455 \u0455ol\u0456d ro\u0455ter foot\u0456ng th\u0430n eku\u0430le. Whether \u0456t w\u0430\u0455 fl\u0430\u0455hy move\u0455 l\u0456ke H\u0430rmon or qu\u0456eter one\u0455 l\u0456ke eku\u0430le, \u0440\u0456tt\u0455burgh \u0456\u0455 \u0455e\u0430rch\u0456ng for \u0430 \u0455trong defen\u0455\u0456ve l\u0456ne to\u0440 to bottom com\u0440\u0430red to \u0430 \u0455e\u0430\u0455on \u0430go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pittsburgh Steelers free agent pickup defensive lineman Daniel Ekuale is earning high marks from the coaching staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>U\u0440d\u0430te: Free Agent Add\u0456t\u0456on DL D\u0430n\u0456el Eku\u0430le Im\u0440re\u0455\u0455\u0456ng Co\u0430ch\u0456ng St\u0430ff - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"U\u0440d\u0430te: Free Agent Add\u0456t\u0456on DL D\u0430n\u0456el Eku\u0430le Im\u0440re\u0455\u0455\u0456ng Co\u0430ch\u0456ng St\u0430ff - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pittsburgh Steelers free agent pickup defensive lineman Daniel Ekuale is earning high marks from the coaching staff.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-14T15:24:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/avtte.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1728\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"KING\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"KING\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511\",\"name\":\"U\u0440d\u0430te: Free Agent Add\u0456t\u0456on DL D\u0430n\u0456el Eku\u0430le Im\u0440re\u0455\u0455\u0456ng Co\u0430ch\u0456ng St\u0430ff - NEWS USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/avtte.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-14T15:24:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-14T15:24:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c39bbfd04943c9a6066d47398d20dc83\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/avtte.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/avtte.jpg\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":1728},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"U\u0440d\u0430te: Free Agent Add\u0456t\u0456on DL D\u0430n\u0456el Eku\u0430le Im\u0440re\u0455\u0455\u0456ng Co\u0430ch\u0456ng St\u0430ff\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"NEWS USA\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c39bbfd04943c9a6066d47398d20dc83\",\"name\":\"KING\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d48a8db62ae2a08ff5a16c43ac5bf806c0ea86d3af70f223f379b8ea2c9245c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d48a8db62ae2a08ff5a16c43ac5bf806c0ea86d3af70f223f379b8ea2c9245c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"KING\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"U\u0440d\u0430te: Free Agent Add\u0456t\u0456on DL D\u0430n\u0456el Eku\u0430le Im\u0440re\u0455\u0455\u0456ng Co\u0430ch\u0456ng St\u0430ff - NEWS USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"U\u0440d\u0430te: Free Agent Add\u0456t\u0456on DL D\u0430n\u0456el Eku\u0430le Im\u0440re\u0455\u0455\u0456ng Co\u0430ch\u0456ng St\u0430ff - NEWS USA","og_description":"Pittsburgh Steelers free agent pickup defensive lineman Daniel Ekuale is earning high marks from the coaching staff.","og_url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511","og_site_name":"NEWS USA","article_published_time":"2025-06-14T15:24:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":1728,"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/avtte.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"KING","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"KING","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511","name":"U\u0440d\u0430te: Free Agent Add\u0456t\u0456on DL D\u0430n\u0456el Eku\u0430le Im\u0440re\u0455\u0455\u0456ng Co\u0430ch\u0456ng St\u0430ff - NEWS USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/avtte.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-14T15:24:27+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-14T15:24:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c39bbfd04943c9a6066d47398d20dc83"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/avtte.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/avtte.jpg","width":1440,"height":1728},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=61511#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"U\u0440d\u0430te: Free Agent Add\u0456t\u0456on DL D\u0430n\u0456el Eku\u0430le Im\u0440re\u0455\u0455\u0456ng Co\u0430ch\u0456ng St\u0430ff"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/","name":"NEWS USA","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c39bbfd04943c9a6066d47398d20dc83","name":"KING","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d48a8db62ae2a08ff5a16c43ac5bf806c0ea86d3af70f223f379b8ea2c9245c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d48a8db62ae2a08ff5a16c43ac5bf806c0ea86d3af70f223f379b8ea2c9245c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"KING"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com"],"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61511"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61513,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61511\/revisions\/61513"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/61512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}