The Pittsburgh Steelers have drafted five offensive linemen over the past two years, including two first-round picks, coinciding with the hiring of Andy Weidl, a former offensive lineman, as assistant general manager. Of course, Weidl is far from the only change, in the front office or on the field, during that time.
That doesn’t stop many from seeing his imprint on the direction the Steelers have headed since 2022. Nor does it stop seeing an even brighter future ahead for Weidl. He received multiple shoutouts yesterday, for example from Ross Tucker and Todd McShay.
“Absolutely LOVE the Steelers draft so far”, Tucker said on Twitter, after the first three rounds. The Steelers used their first pick on Day 3 on another lineman, G Mason McCormick, as well. Tucker, a former lineman himself, surely loved the class even more after that. “Andy Weidl knows what a football player looks like”.
McShay responded to Tucker’s comment to echo his sentiments regarding Weidl. “Second that motion!!”, he wrote. “Andy is one of the best evaluators in the business and deserves more recognition”.
Weidl is a longtime personnel guy, spending a number of years with the Philadelphia Eagles. A Western Pa. native, he began as a scouting intern for the Steelers. With Kevin Colbert retiring in 2022, Weidl was a finalist to replace him as general manager.
The Steelers elected to go with Omar Khan, the man everyone assumed was the heir apparent for a decade but hired Weidl as assistant general manager. Before Colbert, they never gave anybody the title of general manager. They created the role of assistant general manager just because they liked Weidl so much.
Of course, Weidl is a known commodity and figures to be a hot name for a while. He features on lists of the top potential future general managers already, and I don’t expect that to change. With that being said, Weidl clearly likes being in Pittsburgh and working for the Steelers.
Last year, Weidl spoke to reporters in early May, shortly after the draft. He also made some public comments during training camp in August, so we should get a couple of opportunities to hear from him again this offseason.
But we don’t even need to hear from him to know he’s got a big smile on his face after this draft. His history around the league shows his priority of building inside-out, meaning starting from the trenches. The Steelers have used four first- or second-round picks on offensive or defensive linemen since 2023.
Let’s get one thing clear here, however. The Steelers hired Weidl because he fits them, not because they can fit him. Weidl is here to help the Steelers be the team they want to be. He’s not in here changing things—if anything, perhaps keeping everybody focused on priorities. And lately one of the top priorities has been revitalizing the trenches. They’ve managed to do that now.
