After their performance against the Los Angeles Rams, which PFF said was their best of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line moved up five spots and into the top 20 at No. 18 in PFF’s weekly offensive line rankings.
Behind LT Dan Moore Jr.’s best game of the season and sustained success from LG Isaac Seumalo after a rough start to the season, the Steelers’ line is looking for the kind of post-bye improvement the unit had last season.
The five-spot jump is significant, and it means the offensive line is playing a little bit closer to what PFF thought the unit was capable of preseason. The Steelers entered 2023 with the 12th-ranked offensive line but dropped into the 20s after a rough go of it early in the season.
There’s still a lot of work to be done, but things are trending up. C Mason Cole, who was a liability early in the season, had one of his better performances of the season against Los Angeles. He had a 65.0 overall grade and by far his highest pass-blocking grade of the season at 83.7. It was just his second game with a pass-blocking grade over 60.0, with the other one coming in Week Two against the Cleveland Browns, when he had a 64.7 pass-blocking grade.
With the Steelers surrendering six pressures on 28 drop backs against the Rams, they ranked fifth in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency rating in Week Seven. The Steelers need to sustain their pass-blocking success going forward, as the more Kenny Pickett has a clean pocket and is kept upright, the better he’s going to be and the quicker he’ll progress.
While the Steelers’ offensive line is ranked No. 18, their upcoming opponent in the Jacksonville Jaguars is just one spot above them at No. 17. But like the Steelers, they’re a group coming off its best performance of the season, leading the NFL in pass-blocking efficiency as the Jaguars didn’t allow a single sack or hit in their Thursday Night Football victory over the New Orleans Saints.
Guard Brandon Scherff, a former All-Pro with Washington, hasn’t allowed a hit or sack in 259 pass plays this season, while OT Anton Harrison has been among the best rookie offensive linemen this season. The team also recently got OT Cam Robinson back from suspension, and in three games Robinson has graded out really well as a pass blocker, with an 83.4 pass blocking grade. His pass-blocking grade has been over 75.0 in all three games he’s played.
In short, Pittsburgh’s offensive line has shown improvement from the beginning of the season and has to continue to progress. The better it plays, the better the Steelers’ offense will be, and maybe they’ll even do something in a quarter that isn’t the fourth. It’s good to see the improvement from the group as a whole as well as individuals like Seumalo. It would be huge for the Steelers if both Moore and Cole continue to play the way they did against Los Angeles. It might not be easy against a Jaguars front that features EDGE rusher Josh Allen, but the Steelers are going to need to keep Pickett upright to beat the 5-2 Jaguars.
