The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2021 season is over, already eliminated from the postseason after suffering a 42-21 loss at the hands of Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. They just barely made the postseason with a 9-7-1 record and a little help from their friends.
This is an offseason of major change, with the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger, the possible retirement of general manager Kevin Colbert, and the decisions about the futures of many important players to be made, such as Joe Haden, Stephon Tuitt, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and others.
Aside from exploring their options at the quarterback position, the top global priority, once again, figures to be addressing the offensive line, which they did not do quite adequately enough a year ago. Dan Moore Jr. looks like he may have a future as a full-time starter, but Kendrick Green was clearly not ready. Chukwuma Okorafor is heading into free agency, as is Trai Turner.
These are the sorts of topics among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked. There is rarely a concrete answer, but this is your venue for exploring the topics we present through all their uncertainty.
Question: Will John Leglue end up being asked to focus on tackle this year given the depth inside?
John Leglue has been around the block in multiple NFL cities. He was never on a 53-man roster before the 2021 season, however, and even then only due to multiple injuries. He ended up starting the final five games of the year at left guard, but entering 2022, he’s not even guaranteed to have a job.
That’s in part because the Steelers signed two interior linemen in free agency. Right now, the five interior linemen most likely to make the 53-man roster figure to be James Daniels, Mason Cole, Kevin Dotson, Kendrick Green, and J.C. Hassenauer.
That leaves Leglue on the outside looking in. But they do have a vacancy for a number four tackle behind Dan Moore Jr., Chukwuma Okorafor, and Joe Haeg—who is also interior-capable. Zach Banner was released, creating that opening, and the most plausible number four tackle right now may be Chaz Green.
Needless to say, Leglue won’t be looking to work his way backward after finally cracking the 53-man roster, and even getting multiple opportunities to start. He is both guard- and tackle-capable, but the way the roster is currently constructed, he stands a better chance of making the team at tackle.
Of course, the draft could quickly change that if they draft a tackle. But it’s plausible that they draft multiple linemen, both on the inside and outside. Either way, he’s going to have an uphill battle to avoid returning to the practice squad.
