Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan admitted that it was never the plan to select three offensive linemen over the team’s first five picks of the 2024 NFL Draft, but when OG Mason McCormick was available in the fourth round he was too good to pass up.
Zach Frazier has been the starter from Week 1, and Troy Fautanu was the starter in Week 2 before suffering a potentially season-ending injury in practice last week. Injuries across the offensive line gave McCormick his first opportunity to play in a rotation with Spencer Anderson, and showed some of the traits that made him an attractive pick to the Steelers in the draft.
Anderson got the start, but they rotated McCormick at left guard for certain series. They also seemed to have prepped a tackle-eligible package for Broderick Jones with Fautanu scheduled to start, but gave that role to McCormick when it became clear they would need Jones at right tackle.
He ended up playing 13 snaps as a tackle-eligible tight end, and 12 as a true left guard. Pro Football Focus gave him a 57.2 overall grade for his debut effort, including a 82.6 pass-blocking grade and a 52.0 run-blocking grade.
Let’s get into his tape to see what he did well and what he needs to improve on.
I am a sucker for offensive linemen who play to the whistle, and McCormick definitely fits that description. He was playing to or even through the whistle frequently on Sunday. He definitely has some nastiness to his game.
He even made the tackle on Justin Fields’ interception. As soon as the pass cleared him, he hustled to the play and made the tackle.
McCormick allowed zero pressures and showed some good stuff in pass protection. On the below play, he kept his hands in tight to latch onto the defender, and mirrored well with his good footwork. This resulted in him anchoring and giving almost no ground.
The one time he got in trouble while pass blocking, he had his right arm out to make sure he wasn’t sliding into Frazier to trip him up. This resulted in him giving up his chest and getting blown back a few yards into the pocket.
I liked McCormick’s ability to recover on the below play. His hands were initially swiped away by DL Morgan Fox, but he mirrored with his feet and reset his hands to keep a clean pocket.
As a run blocker, he showed the ability to displace defenders. On this play, he gets outside arm on the defender’s chestplate and his inside arm and head on the playside to dig the defender out of the hole and drive him several yards away. He stands a little tall and lets his feet get a little narrow for things to improve on.
Here are some of the negatives that can happen when he stands tall and gets too narrow with his base. The defender was able to easily shed him and make the tackle on Najee Harris.
Khalil Mack gave him a bit of a welcome-to-the-NFL moment, executing a push-pull and dumping McCormick to the ground to force Harris to wash out to the sideline for a minimal gain. He got caught leaning his center of gravity out over his feet, and Mack took advantage.
Overall, it was a solid performance in limited snaps, especially given that McCormick was moving around the offensive line in different spots. I like his nasty demeanor and his competitive toughness. His quickness mirroring defenders was also very encouraging. This was another solid debut for the 2024 rookie o-line class.
