{"id":847180,"date":"2026-04-01T13:47:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T13:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/847180\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T13:47:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T13:47:15","slug":"defabo-identifies-steelers-most-glaring-hole-ahead-of-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/847180\/","title":{"rendered":"DeFabo Identifies Steelers’ ‘Most Glaring Hole’ Ahead Of Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Steelers don\u2019t have their quarterback of choice currently under contract, but that\u2019s not their one glaring need right now. According to The Athletic\u2019s Mike DeFabo, that would be the left guard position vacated by Isaac Seumalo. And in his mind, that\u2019s not just because of the available candidates to replace him. It\u2019s as much to do with what their expectations for the offensive line are, or should be.<\/p>\n

\u201cOffensive guard, surprisingly, has turned into maybe the most glaring hole on the roster right now\u201d, DeFabo said on Steelers Nation Radio<\/a>. \u201cThe one thing that they really didn\u2019t do is find a legitimate upgrade and replacement for Isaac Seumalo\u201d.<\/p>\n

While he acknowledged that the Steelers have Spencer Anderson and signed Brock Hoffman<\/a>, he still identifies guard among their chief needs, it not their most paramount. The thing is, even if Aaron Rodgers retires, there\u2019s very little they could do about it. In all likelihood, they would just move forward with Mason Rudolph and Will Howard.<\/p>\n

If the Steelers still see guard as one of their biggest needs, they can find a potential starting guard in the draft, or even double back after the draft and sign a free agent\u2014even trade for one. I can tell you one thing though: you\u2019re not trading for many starting quarterbacks in May. And there isn\u2019t a starting quarterback in this draft, arguably, beyond Fernando Mendoza.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way I would look at it if I\u2019m the Steelers, you\u2019ve already invested two first-round picks, a second-round pick, and a fourth-round pick with the goal of this group not just being pretty good, but being dominant\u201d, DeFabo said in explaining why he sees guard as one of their biggest needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way you can continue along that same trajectory is with a guy that is an upgrade to Isaac Seumalo, or a guy who is at least at that same caliber. So I wouldn\u2019t discount them in the first round going with an offensive guard\u201d.<\/p>\n

If the Steelers agree with DeFabo, they can potentially find a generational guard<\/a> in the first round. Or at least a Pro Bowl guard, something they\u2019ve managed before with David DeCastro in 2012. While they haven\u2019t reached Pro Bowl status yet, Pittsburgh has hit on its recent offensive linemen.<\/p>\n

Going into the draft, Troy Fautanu is at right tackle, Mason McCormick right guard, Zach Frazier at center\u2014and then things grow murky. Left tackle would be either Broderick Jones or Dylan Cook, potentially hinging on the former\u2019s health. At left guard, Spencer Anderson would be the presumptive favorite, I imagine. But Brock Hoffman has about a year\u2019s worth of starting experience, more than Anderson, and familiarity with Mike McCarthy\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n

But do the Steelers need three first-round picks along their offensive line, throwing their greatest resources at their biggest needs? They have already played well, frankly, with Anderson in the lineup. And one can argue they have a better coaching staff now in place that can take the group to another level. But if a guard is the best player available\u00a0 for them in the first round, it would be hard to say no.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Steelers don\u2019t have their quarterback of choice currently under contract, but that\u2019s not their one glaring need…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":847181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,8882,6,520,57,2360,426,97353,691],"class_list":{"0":"post-847180","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-mike-defabo","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","13":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","14":"tag-steelers","15":"tag-steelers-nation-radio","16":"tag-trending"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116329765029645966","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847180","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=847180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}