{"id":786537,"date":"2026-03-02T11:41:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T11:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/786537\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T11:41:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T11:41:17","slug":"steelers-o-line-uncertainty-the-biggest-story-out-of-combine-beat-writer-argues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/786537\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers’ O-Line ‘Uncertainty’ The ‘Biggest Story’ Out Of Combine, Beat Writer Argues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Considering the names tied to the Steelers\u2019 offseason, the \u201cbiggest story\u201d, believes one beat writer coming out of the Combine is surprising. It\u2019s not Aaron Rodgers, for example\u2014although it certainly could be. But we knew going into the Combine that Rodgers would be a question. We were less clear on what might be going on with the Steelers\u2019 offensive line.<\/p>\n

During the Combine, Steelers GM Omar Khan addressed the status of his first draft pick on the offensive line<\/a>, Broderick Jones, a first-round selection in 2023. He suffered an injury late in the season of unreported severity. Speaking to the media, Khan said, basically, that they hope he might be ready by training camp. On top of that, you have free agency and other questions to consider.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, the biggest story was the uncertainty at offensive line\u201d, said Steelers beat reporter Ray Fittipaldo on the #1 Cochran Sports Showdown<\/a>. \u201cNobody\u2019s talking about the Steelers drafting another offensive lineman, but they don\u2019t know the recovery schedule for Broderick Jones, who had neck surgery. They\u2019re hoping to know something by training camp, but that\u2019s in doubt right now. And Calvin Anderson<\/a>, their top backup, blew out his knee in December, and he wouldn\u2019t be ready to compete, either\u201d.<\/p>\n

It was in 2023 that the Steelers began to rebuild their offensive line in earnest. That is when they drafted Jones, having already signed Isaac Seumalo in free agency. Now Jones\u2019 injury puts the left tackle position in flux and Seumalo could leave in two weeks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying that [the Steelers will draft an offensive lineman], but with Isaac Seumalo at left guard hitting free agency, there\u2019s some uncertainty there\u201d, Fittipaldo said regarding how the team might address the position. \u201cAnd I think either through free agency or the draft at some point\u2014not Day 1\u2014that they will draft their offensive line\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Steelers addressed the offensive line three times in the first four rounds in 2024. Those three players\u2014Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier, and Mason McCormick\u2014are all starters. But even if we lean into generosity and claim they have homegrown replacements at left guard and tackle, there is the depth to consider.<\/p>\n

Because if we pencil Dylan Cook and Spencer Anderson into the Steelers\u2019 starting offensive line, who backs them up? There is Ryan McCollum at center, who could also play guard. But he is a restricted free agent that they need to re-sign first, anyway. And who else is there? They could bring back Andrus Peat, who is also a free agent, and Max Scharping.<\/p>\n

Even if Jones and Seumalo play for the Steelers this season, they might still want to address the offensive line. Seumalo isn\u2019t getting any older and this could be Jones\u2019 final season if he doesn\u2019t earn a second contract. They would have decent depth if Cook, Anderson, and McCollum were their backups again. But Anderson is going into his final season, too, mind you, and he would jump at any chance to compete for a starting job, I would think.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Considering the names tied to the Steelers\u2019 offseason, the \u201cbiggest story\u201d, believes one beat writer coming out of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":782134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[19983,7,6,520,57,2360,7827,426,691],"class_list":{"0":"post-786537","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-1-cochran-sports-showdown","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","13":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","14":"tag-ray-fittipaldo","15":"tag-steelers","16":"tag-trending"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116159400052645550","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/782134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}