Offensive line at the Senior Bowl was one of the strongest position groups all week and figures to be well represented in the top rounds of the upcoming NFL draft. The Steelers have one tackle who figures to be a cornerstone of the offensive line in Broderick Jones but need somebody to pair with him to solidify the position for years to come. OT Dan Moore Jr. is nearing the end of his rookie contract and hasn’t done enough to justify a long-term contract to be a starter. Two tackles I spoke to in Mobile claimed that wide zone is their strong suit—Arizona’s Jordan Morgan and Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga.
The Steelers recently hired offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, who is known for implementing wide-zone concepts in the running game. Morgan said that’s his bread and butter.
“Wide zone for sure,” Morgan told me when I asked if he preferred zone or gap schemes. “I’m athletic. I’m one of the most athletic offensive linemen here.”
Morgan measured in at 6047, 312 pounds, though his arm length came in a little short at 32 7/8 inches. While most linemen want to show off their bench press numbers or their pass sets in drills at the NFL Scouting Combine, Morgan is more interested in showing what kind of athlete he is. I asked him if there is a particular drill he wants to ace at the Combine to prove something to NFL teams.
“I’d say my lateral movement, lateral drills, and three-cone drill, stuff like that,” he said.
Jones was one of the most athletic tackles in last year’s draft class and that translated to the field with great run blocking, especially while on the move out in space. Jones had the third-best athleticism score at last year’s Combine, per NFL.com.
If the Steelers are after athletes who can move and operate a wide-zone run scheme, Morgan could be just the prospect. One thing to figure out, should he be the selection, is who is going to play left tackle and who is going to play right tackle. Jones was a left tackle coming out of college and had the most work there in his collegiate career, but the Steelers ended up inserting him at right tackle to replace Chukwuma Okorafor starting in Week Nine. Jones flashed great play there, but some wonder if the Steelers are making a similar mistake to what happened with OG Kevin Dotson, who struggled on the left side with his natural position on the right.
Morgan said he feels more comfortable on the left, where he spent all his time in college, but I asked if he thinks he could translate over to the right side.
“If I practice it for a little bit, I’ll be comfortable,” Morgan said.
If the Steelers do end up going this route, one of either Morgan or Jones will have to play out of their natural position. Many assume the goal is to get Jones back on the left side, but head coach Mike Tomlin said during a recent press conference that he was “undecided,” and that he is more than capable on either side. Given Jones’ 10 starts on the right side, the answer might be to have him continue there.
There are plenty of right tackle prospects projected in the top two or three rounds as well, but depending how the board falls, it doesn’t sound like Jones will preclude the team from drafting a left tackle. And there was at least some interest shown in Morgan at the Senior Bowl. He told me he spoke to Tomlin at practice during the week in Mobile.
“He gave us props on the season,” Morgan said. “He talked about Arizona and how we started off so bad but ended so good. I thought that was pretty cool; we got recognition from Mike Tomlin.”
Ultimately Senior Bowl meetings don’t have a track record of meaning as much in the Steelers’ overall interest. The Pro Day visits and formal meetings hold much more weight, but Morgan spoke with Tomlin in Mobile, which counts for something.
Perhaps a better fit overall for the Steelers would be Fuaga, who spent most of his time on the right side at Oregon State.
“At Oregon State, we ran a lot of zone,” Fuaga told me. “Definitely a wide-zone team. That was definitely our scheme over there and I fell in love with that from coach [Jim] Michalczik. He did a great job teaching it.”
Fuaga measured at 6057, 332 pounds with solid 33 3/8-inch arms. He has a bit more of the length that the Steelers tend to prefer in tackles and playing right tackle would allow Jones to flip back to his natural left side.
He also spoke to Tomlin and met with the Steelers at the Senior Bowl.
“We had an interview,” Fuaga said. “It’s crazy because I got a lot of family that [are] Steeler fans and just being able to meet him in person, I was honestly speechless when I got there.”
Both tackles operated out of the wide-zone scheme in college and could be excellent fits in Pittsburgh. They were both first-team AP All-Pac-12 selections in 2023. Fuaga may be the better fit overall due to his length and experience on the right side, but he is also projected to be selected high and may not be available to the Steelers at the 20th overall selection. Fuaga won National Team practice player of the week at the Senior Bowl.
