The Pittsburgh Steelers have invested a good amount of draft capital in their offensive and defensive lines the last two drafts. They’ve spent their last two first-round picks on offensive tackles, Broderick Jones in 2023 and Troy Fautanu in 2024. They drafted C Zach Frazier in the second round this year, then added G Mason McCormick in the fourth round. The Steelers have also drafted two defensive linemen, Keeanu Benton in the second round of the 2023 draft and Logan Lee in the sixth round of the 2024 draft.
Steelers general manager Omar Khan is serious about building the team in the trenches. He joined the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday to discuss all the recent happenings in Pittsburgh. He was asked about the focus on the offensive line in this year’s draft.
“I think from Day 1 since I got this job, I made it clear that those big guys up front on both sides of the ball were important to us,” Khan said. “And the way the draft worked out, it worked out perfectly for us. You know, offensive lineman, we got a tackle in Round 1. A center and then a guard that we’re really excited about in Round 4. So that’s, I wouldn’t say it was necessarily, the plan, it went to exactly to the ‘T’, but it was, you know, we had an idea of what we wanted to do.”
The Steelers were not shy about taking good offensive linemen if they were available. They invested three of their first five picks on the offensive line in this year’s draft. That’s after drafting Jones in 2023 along with signing free agent guards Isaac Seumalo and Nate Herbig prior to the 2023 season.
The Steelers have always valued the running game on offense. Even during times when the passing game was humming with QB Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers were still trying to have an excellent run game. They leaned into that by hiring Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator. Then they continued by investing resources into the line to pave the way for Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.
Equally important is stopping the run. Even in a pass-happy league like the modern NFL, the Steelers play in a division with teams that love to run the ball: the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns. Plus, as it gets late in the season and into the playoffs, teams tend to emphasize the run game even more.
Also, getting a pass rush from the defensive line is always a plus. The Steelers added a potential disruptor on the line in Lee. The more disruptive defensive linemen are, the better it is for the defense as a whole.
The 2024 NFL Draft was another step in Omar Khan’s plan to fortify the lines on both sides of the ball. The progress he has made in the last two drafts is hard to deny. How well that translates to on-field success remains to be seen, but Khan and his scouts have certainly been working hard.
