Entering the 2024 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers very clearly had a plan to address the offensive line.
Consider that plan complete as the Steelers did something Saturday that they hadn’t been done since the 1976 NFL Draft: select an offensive lineman with three of the first five selections.
According to Steelers communications manager Michael Bertsch, the selection of South Dakota State’s Mason McCormick at No. 119 overall in the fourth round helped the Steelers do something for the first time in 48 years.
The last time the Steelers selected offensive linemen with three of their first five picks in the NFL draft was in the 1976 NFL Draft, which saw the Steelers select Washington center Ray Pinney, McNeese State center James Files and Penn State guard Ron Coder.
Pinney was the No. 37 overall pick in 1976. He spent nine seasons in Pittsburgh from 1976-82 and then 1985-87. During that time, he played in 125 games with 81 career starts, seeing time at both left and right tackle and left guard. He started 11 games at right tackle in 1978, helping the Steelers win Super Bowl XIII over the Dallas Cowboys.
Files, the No. 56 overall pick that year, unfortunately never played a game for the Steelers, while Coder was the No. 70 overall pick. He never played a game for the Steelers, either, but spent three seasons with Seattle and one season with St. Louis.
Hopefully, that’s not the case with the Steelers’ three draft picks along the offensive line. All three project as either starters or a key depth piece in 2024 and beyond as the Steelers completely reshape their offensive line room.
On Thursday, the Steelers made franchise history by drafting an offensive lineman in the first round in back-to-back years with the selection of Washington’s Troy Fautanu. They followed that up Friday night by selecting West Virginia’s Zach Frazier, marking the first time since 2012 that the franchise went offensive line with its first two picks.
Now, with McCormick at No. 119, the Steelers make franchise history again, matching the 1976 draft.
