The only thing that stays the same is change. That’s the old saying. But for several years, the Pittsburgh Steelers defied the odds in the world of modern free agency by keeping their offensive line intact. Alejandro Villanueva, Ramon Foster, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, and Marcus Gilbert were the team’s front five for years.
But change has finally happened. Eventually, that group got older, got hurt, and retired or moved on. Since, the Steelers have spent their offseasons revamping their front five, making serious changes year by year.
While not Earth-shattering, it’s good to see the yearly changes and how things project in 2023. A group looking to get better and settle in.
Below is a chart of the starting offensive line in Week One since 2018. We’ll talk about the results below.
| Year | LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Alejandro Villanueva | Ramon Foster | Maurkice Pouncey | David DeCastro | Marcus Gilbert |
| 2019 | Alejandro Villanueva | Ramon Foster | Maurkice Pouncey | David DeCastro | Matt Feiler |
| 2020 | Alejandro Villanueva | Matt Feiler | Maurkice Pouncey | David DeCastro* | Zach Banner |
| 2021 | Dan Moore Jr. | Kevin Dotson | Kendrick Green | Trai Turner | Chukwuma Okorafor |
| 2022 | Dan Moore Jr. | Kevin Dotson | Mason Cole | James Daniels | Chukwuma Okorafor |
| 2023* | Broderick Jones | Isaac Seumalo | Mason Cole | James Daniels | Chukwuma Okorafor |
*Stefen Wisniewski started over an injured DeCastro in Week One but DeCastro was the expected starter who started by Week 3.
*Projected 2023 group
From 2018 to 2019, there’s one change. From 2019 to 2020, there’s two. From 2020 to 2021, there a whopping five, a wholesale change. From 2021 to 2022, there were two changes. And projecting out the 2023 line, there could be two changes on the left side of the line, Broderick Jones over Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle (not guaranteed, of course) and Seumalo for Dotson at left guard.
It’s not to say these changes were bad. They’re beneficial. Pittsburgh certainly has gone through its growing pains in reshuffling its new-look offensive line, and there’s arguments to be made they didn’t spent enough money or draft capital in the early going. Especially in 2021 – whew, that’s an ugly-looking line.
This is to just outline the year-by-year change the Steelers’ line has undergone. Of course, there’s no guarantee the projected front five will starting come Week One against the San Francisco 49ers; they gotta get through the summer healthy, but hopefully this will be the group to roll with next year, too. And Pittsburgh can return to running back the same starting five or potentially making just one change (right tackle is the one to zero in on). They’ll be better off for it.
