Depth in the NFL is super important because it is inevitable players will get injured. Football is a violent game, and sometimes when you have quality depth it is better to have a healthy back-up play than an injured starter. Last season, the Steelers’ offensive line didn’t have much depth and got lucky with no major injuries to that group. But this offseason, General Manager Omar Khan went out and addressed that depth with multiple signings and drafting picks to the offensive line.
Count C Mason Cole as someone who is happy with this. Cole often played injured last season and in a podcast with Tim Benz from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, he emphasized how important depth is in the NFL.
“Think that’s really the business is there’s gonna be injuries and we were super fortunate last year to be relatively healthy the whole season,” Cole said. “But in our group the depth is so important because it’s inevitable someone’s gonna get banged up. I was banged up here and there last year. Just, that depth is so important, to have guys that can come in when someone goes down and it’d be a smooth transition, effortless. They would know what’s going on, they know how each of us are thinking. It’s just the depth in the offense line is so important in the National Football League and I think it gets underplayed, undersold. Those depth guys are huge.”
The offensive line is the lifeblood of a team. We all saw from 2019-2021 how a bad offensive line can hamper a team when you aren’t getting very high-level quarterback play. With a young quarterback who has had a couple concussions already in Kenny Pickett, the Steelers need to keep him healthy and upright, and the odds the entire offensive line stays healthy again is slim.
But, you can’t just have any depth, you need good depth. With the addition of G Isaac Seumalo and G Nate Herbig, the Steelers interior offensive line depth got much stronger from last year. This year, Herbig and Dotson, Dotson being a starter last season, are back-ups who can provide quality depth. Last season, Jesse Davis and J.C. Hassenauer were the primary back-up interior offensive lineman. Neither player is with the team this season.
The drafting of LT Broderick Jones means he will either be starting come Week One and pushing Dan Moore Jr. to back up, or Jones, a rookie with a high ceiling, will be the back up. The only position with a question mark at depth is center, with Herbig seeing a ton of snaps at back-up center during training camp.
Rookie OL Spencer Anderson has shown versatility and flashed some talent in the Steelers first preseason game last Friday. Anderson can play all over the offensive line and, if he makes the team, provides even more depth and can become an important player down the line if he develops well.
Unlike last season, Pittsburgh is in a much better spot if an offensive lineman goes down with injury. God willing, none of them get hurt, but as Cole said, it is unlikely. This year, if someone goes down, the offensive line will likely be able to run as normal with such quality depth throughout. And, it might even prevent some players playing banged up as the back-ups are more than capable of stepping in and starting when needed.
