The Pittsburgh Steelers have made a serious effort to improve their offensive line over the past two offseasons, and according to Ross Tucker, the 2023 unit could be their “best line in years.” Despite that, Tucker only has Pittsburgh at No. 17 in his 2023 offensive line rankings on The 33rd Team.
“The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line got better last year. Then it got better again this offseason with the addition of [Isaac] Seumalo and rookie left tackle Broderick Jones. If Seumalo can help Jones grow quickly, the Steelers could have their best line in years,” Tucker wrote.
The Steelers had the same starting offensive line in every game in 2022, but Isaac Seumalo will get the nod as the team’s starting left guard this season. Broderick Jones is in a battle with the incumbent Dan Moore Jr. for the left tackle job, but either way Seumalo makes Pittsburgh’s line better.
Tucker wrote that Seumalo “was much better than people realized” during his stint with the Philadelphia Eagles, and I think that same idea applies to two of Pittsburgh’s returning starters in Mason Cole and James Daniels. Cole and Daniels are both a little bit of an afterthought outside of Pittsburgh, despite both being very solid starters last season and really being the key to the offensive line gelling late in the 2022 season. As a result, I think the Steelers line has the potential to being better than the 17th-best unit in 2023.
While Omar Khan wasn’t yet in the general manager’s seat last offseason when the Steelers signed Cole and Daniels, his work on improving the offensive line was just another example of his clear goal to add competition and make sound improvements across the board. Seumalo was a home-run signing, one of the best guards in football who will step in as a Day One starter and probably be Pittsburgh’s best lineman. Moving up to draft Jones at No. 14 overall gives Pittsburgh its left tackle of the future, while he also added depth and versatility in Nate Herbig via free agency and Spencer Anderson in the draft.
Top to bottom, Pittsburgh’s line is better. It would be extremely rare for the Steelers to have the same injury luck across the line as they did last season, so making moves to add solid backups like Herbig will help Pittsburgh be a better and more prepared football team. I think this line has the potential to surprise some people with how good it could be, and Steelers fans should be excited to watch some bully ball this year. That will start in the trenches.
