Establish The Run’s Brandon Thorn finished up studying all 32 offensive lines to give his 2020 rankings for the best linemen by position in football. Generally, the Steelers graded well, though there are question marks in some obvious areas.
Working left to right, Alejandro Villanueva was ranked in Tier 3 and the #10 left tackle according to Thorns’ list.
LTs ranked in tiers for 2020 (no rookies):
Armstead
Bakhtiari
Smith
WilliamsStanley
Tunsil
Castonzo
LewanMatthews
Villanueva
Whitworth
BrownDawkins
Okung
Wynn
Miller
Decker
Humphries
Leno Jr.
Robinson
DillardFisher
Reiff
Smith
SolderBolles
Jackson
Pipkins
Christian— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) July 22, 2020
That seems like a fair ranking for him, especially seeing the names ahead of him. While he allowed a career low 2.5 sacks in 2019, his play wasn’t quite as good as that number indicates and his run blocking has always been average at best.
Thorn’s including Feiler with the left guards, a smart assumption given Mike Tomlin’s statement that Feiler will begin training camp at that spot. He winds up in Tier 4 as the #17 left guard in football.
LG tiers heading into 2020:
Nelson
IncognitoMarpet
Thuney
Bitonio
SaffoldPeat
Jenkins
RisnerNorwell
Spain
Pugh
Tomlinson
Seumalo
Hernandez
Scharping
Feiler
Williams
Dahl
Daniels
IupatiWylie
Bozeman
Lewis
CarpenterFlowers
Feeney
Elflein
Jordan
Corbett
Schweitzer
Miller— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) July 22, 2020
Feiler should move up those rankings once he gets consistent playing time there. Last season, he started against the Rams at left guard and held his own. He’s shown the underrated ability to move around the offensive line, plugging whatever hole the team had, with consistent and steady play. He’s arguably the strongest linemen on the team, too.
Maurkice Pouncey gets shown some serious love here after being undervalued by outlets like Pro Football Focus. Thorn puts Pouncey in Tier 2 and the #4 center behind his top three of: Rodney Hudson, Jason Kelce, and Alex Mack.
Centers ranked in tiers heading into 2020:
Hudson
Kelce
MackPouncey (PIT)
Kelly
Jensen
Morse
RagnowLinsley
Richburg
Andrews
Jones
Linder
Pouncey (LAC)
Tretter
ParadisWhitehair
Roullier
Bradbury
Martin
McGovern
Hopkins
Skura
Reiter
Finney
LooneyAllen
Karras
Cole
Pulley— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) July 22, 2020
Pouncey definitely had a frustrating problem of bad snaps last season but he’s still one of football’s best in the middle. Even into his 30s, he’s one of the most athletic linemen who plays with a combination of technique and nastiness that continues to make him a top-tier starter.
David DeCastro is showed the same, also falling in Tier 2 and the #2 right guard, only behind Dallas’ Zach Martin, given a class all his own.
RG tiers heading into 2020:
Martin
DeCastro
Scherff
Zeitler
MasonGlasgow
McCoy
T. Turner
Jackson
PetersSweezy
LDT
Davis
Cappa
Brunskill
Fluker
B. Turner
Feliciano
TellerFulton
Van Roten/Winters
Blythe/Edwards
Cann
GlowinskiXSF
Ifedi
Dozier
Schofield— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) July 22, 2020
Over the past two seasons, DeCastro’s allowed only 1.5 sacks and registered just six penalties. Aside from the Fletcher Cox’s of the world giving him fits, he’s one of football’s best. Should he continue the path he’s on, there’s a chance DeCastro makes it into Canton one day.
Finally, Thorn gave the edge to Chukwuma Okorafor over Zach Banner for the right tackle rankings. But predictably, Okorafor was low on the list, ending up in Tier 5 and 24th place.
RT tiers heading into 2020:
Schwartz
Johnson
RamczykBulaga
Collins
T. Brown
O. BrownO'Neill
Conklin
McGlinchey
SmithTaylor
Howard
Cannon
Moton
Moses
James
Ford
Massie
Havenstein
GilbertWagner
Kelly
McGary
Okorafor
Edoga/Fant
Davis
Shell
VaitaiHart
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) July 22, 2020
A fair evaluation with how little we know about him. He’s made just two starts in his first two years and given plenty of tight end/slide protection help in both games. The battle between him and Okorafor is one of the Steelers’ closest ones and without a preseason, it’ll be hard for us to evaluate who’s winning.
