Entering the 2024 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ needs along the offensive line are evident. Many draft experts have them addressing both center and offensive tackle over the first two or three rounds. GM Omar Khan himself talked about the need to find the next great Steelers center and also stated his desire to move Broderick Jones over to left tackle after playing out of position on the right for much of his rookie season. So, how did the Steelers find themselves in this situation? It all starts with the draft.
According to data by Warren Sharp on X, the Steelers rank 25th in recent offensive line draft capital investment.
That ranking is even more surprising because the Steelers traded up last year to select Broderick Jones in the first round, which gave them the fourth-highest investment by draft capital in the offensive line last year, along with Spencer Anderson in the seventh round. In 2022, they didn’t invest in the offensive line at all in the draft, but they did bring in OG James Daniels in free agency.
In 2021, they drafted Kendrick Green in the third round and Dan Moore Jr. in the fourth round. In 2020, they added Kevin Dotson in the fourth round, and to round out the list in 2019, they drafted Derwin Gray in the seventh round.
Things seem to be trending in a good direction with Jones, and Anderson has received positive reports behind the scenes, but the rest of that list leaves a lot to be desired.
Dan Moore Jr. has been a three-year starter as a fourth-round pick, which is a solid return, but he is not the tackle of the future for the team. Green was thrown into the fire out of position as a rookie and never recovered. Dotson turned into a great guard in Los Angeles with the Rams but was undisciplined and ineffective with the Steelers.
So they haven’t invested much, and the picks they did invest haven’t panned out. They have had to supplement by bringing in two expensive guards in free agency and are now in a position where they need to land both a right tackle and center in the draft. This would be the first time since at least the common draft era, and maybe ever, that the Steelers go back-to-back with offensive linemen in the first two rounds if that ends up being the case.
There was a mandate from team president Art Rooney II to improve the run game a few years back. They may have jumped the gun with drafting Najee Harris before solidifying the line, but they are finally close to completing the rebuild. It helps to have assistant GM Andy Weidl in charge of the draft board, who comes from the Philadelphia Eagles and very much believes in building up both the offensive and defensive line at the core of the team.
Here is to hoping that the investment (and the outcomes) both improve over the next five years.
