One of the most important aspects when building a football team is the relationship between a quarterback and his offensive line. Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was close with his offensive line, including former tackle Willie Colon, who now hosts Morning Men alongside Evan Cohen and Mike Babchik. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin appeared on the show as a guest today, and he was asked about Kenny Pickett building that sort of relationship with his O-line like Roethlisberger had.
“There’s no question, Kenny’s got to develop a security team like Ben had,” Tomlin had. “It is a security team.”
The biggest job the offensive line has is to protect its quarterback. That means the obvious, like keeping him from getting sacked, but also making sure no one takes a cheap shot at him. Off the field, the guys the line protects typically take care of them with perks and gifts, like Le’Veon Bell did in 2017 by gifting the offensive line with watches. It really is a security team for the quarterback. Treat him like a VIP at the club and don’t let anyone get near him who shouldn’t.
The Steelers are doing a good job of building up Pickett’s security team. They signed Isaac Seumalo in free agency and drafted Broderick Jones in the first round this year, while last year the team brought in Mason Cole and James Daniels.
Daniels took steps toward being the leader of Pickett’s security team last season by stepping up after he got hit late by Damar Hamlin during a slide in his first career start against the Buffalo Bills. While there was no malice by Hamlin, it was a late hit and a good offensive line can’t allow defenders to get away with that stuff on their quarterback. With a couple of big maulers added in Jones and Seumalo, I wouldn’t dare try to pull any shenanigans on Pickett if I was an opposing defender.
The Steelers are going to be bullies this year. That’s how they’re going to play and how they’re going to win. It might not be pretty, but it’s going to be tough, gritty football. It’s going to be Pittsburgh Steelers football. Smash a guy in the mouth and then go and do it again the next play, and again the play after that.
The offensive line needs to protect Pickett at all costs and be that security team that Roethlisberger had during his prime with guys like David DeCastro and Maurkice Pouncey and even Colon and Max Starks before them. Hopefully, the Steelers can keep the core of the current iteration of their line together for years and really help them develop that relationship with Pickett. If that ends up being the case, the Steelers’ future is bright.
