Through the past few drafts, the Pittsburgh Steelers have built their roster with one goal in mind — getting better in the trenches. On the defensive line, they’ve got some youngsters mixed in with a healthy amount of veterans. On the offensive line, not quite as much. However, Mike Tomlin acknowledges how important his offensive line is this year.
“Their growth and development is the elephant in the room,” Tomlin said while speaking to Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller on Sirius XM NFL Radio. “We talk about it, we gotta live it everyday. But they got enough talent, individually and collectively to do it. But it is a process, and this team development process is a big time for them. We expect these guys to play, and play well.”
The youth on the offensive line may be the elephant in the room for Tomlin, but the doubts have been hard to ignore this offseason. Whether cast upon Broderick Jones, Troy Fautanu or the rest of the line, plenty of questions have been asked about this unit.
The questions are fair. In Zach Frazier, the Steelers have a terrific center, and Isaac Seumalo presents some veteran stability at guard. Mason McCormick has a chance to become the right guard of the future, but he’s got more work to do in that regard. The two tackle spots are the biggest worries.
On the left side is Broderick Jones, who’s still looking for a home on the field and has underwhelmed through two years. On the right is Troy Fautanu, who has just one NFL game on his resume. Those two could each turn out to be great, but neither have proved much of anything yet.
The lack of proven talent becomes even more of a worry since Aaron Rodgers will turn 42 late in the season. He’s not as mobile as he once was, to say the least. And during his time with the New York Jets, he preferred to get the ball out of his hands far quicker than what we’ve seen in the past. If there are any inconsistencies on the line, it’s not like the Steelers have a quarterback mobile enough to make up for them.
Obviously, poor o-line play will hurt the running game too. Kaleb Johnson faced a ton of stacked boxes in college, but the NFL is a different story. In Arthur Smith’s offense, the Steelers will want to base their passing attack off the run game itself. In short, bad performances from the offensive line would really hurt every aspect of the offense.
That said, there is a ton of potential in Tomlin’s offensive line. Frazier and McCormick played well when called upon last year. Fautanu looked good before being injured, and Jones can finally settle down in one position. There are plenty of reasons to be positive about this group. However, those hopes will have to come true for this offense to live up to its potential.