We know that the Pittsburgh Steelers have a need along the offensive line. We also know that they’ve met with a lot of linemen in various ways throughout the pre-draft process. But is there any way to determine who would be a good fit under offensive coordinator Arthur Smith?
Earlier this offseason, I did a deep dive into the athletic measurables of the offensive linemen at each of Smith’s previous stops. The primary point of that study was to see how the Steelers’ offensive linemen at the time compared to what Arthur Smith seemingly preferred. However, I did have a bit of a long game in mind. That was to see how incoming rookie linemen compared to Smith’s preferences.
The main tool I used for the original exercise and this study is the Relative Athletic Score. It was created by Kent Lee Platte to help compare prospects versus others at the same position. It helps contextualize the raw numbers, which is helpful.
One major reminder: Athletic testing alone doesn’t mean a player will succeed. There have been great athletes who were forgettable NFL players. There have also been players who tested quite poorly but have had successful careers. We’re going to see one of those cases when we discuss the center position later. This exercise is simply to give us some ideas about which players fit the general mold of what Arthur Smith looks for in his linemen.
Now, we are less than a month away from the NFL draft. We’ve got quite the list of prospects who have met with the Steelers in one way or another throughout the process. That means scouts or personnel at Pro Days, meetings at the NFL Scouting Combine or Senior Bowl, and players who are coming in for pre-draft visits. There are a lot of offensive linemen the Steelers have been around.
One of the tricky things about this study is that there are plenty of players who played the majority of their career at one position but will likely play elsewhere in the NFL. So we’ve done our best to highlight those and put them where they likely project. And remember, versatility can be quite helpful on the offensive line!
So, let’s take a look and see how they stack up, starting with the offensive tackle class.
Offensive Tackles
When I looked at the tackles who played for Arthur Smith in Tennessee and Atlanta, it’s apparent Smith likes super-athletic players. The average RAS for his offensive tackles was 9.64. That’s actually slightly higher than the Steelers’ first-round pick in last year’s draft, Broderick Jones. He had a 9.58 RAS, which is still quite good. The Steelers’ other starting tackle, Dan Moore Jr., had an RAS of 8.97.
With those numbers in mind, I took a look at 21 tackles the Steelers have had some contact with. Some other players who played offensive tackle in college will show up at either guard or center due to projections at the next level. Three of those 21 do not have an RAS because they did not participate in all the drills. That leaves us with 18 to compare.
With the 9.64 average RAS, there are four tackles the Steelers have had contact with that exceed that number. Joe Alt from Notre Dame, widely considered to be the top tackle in the class, leads the group with 9.93. Frank Crum of Wyoming, Tyler Guyton of Oklahoma, and Patrick Paul of Houston are the other three to surpass the average.
Four more offensive tackles are within 0.1 of the average, and three of them are popular names for the Steelers. Taliese Fauga of Oregon State clocked in at 9.62, just 0.02 off the average. That’s also the same score as Washington OT Troy Fautanu. Then Amarius Mims from Georgia clocks in at 9.58. Rounding out the group is Penn State OT Olu Fashanu with a 9.56.
Two other offensive tackles surpassed Moore in RAS: Jordan Morgan of Arizona with 9.27 and Roger Rosengarten of Washington with 9.17. So that brings us to a total of 10 tackles who would be, at worst, an athletic upgrade over last year’s starting left tackle.
Offensive Guards
According to everything I’ve seen, the Steelers have been around 14 true guards in some capacity. These players played guard in college and will likely stay that way in the league. Some players like KT Leveston of Kansas State and Matt Goncalves of Pitt played tackle in college and could (and probably will) kick inside to guard.
When we look at Arthur Smith’s offenses with the Titans and the Falcons, the average RAS of the guards was 8.82. Of the guards the Steelers have been around, five are above the 8.82 mark. Brandon Coleman of TCU had the top score of the group with 9.97. Then, Christian Mahogany of Boston College and Trevor Keegan of Michigan. Christian Haynes of UConn was the last of the group to clear 9 with a 9.10. Karsen Barnhardt of Michigan just beat the average with an 8.84.
The only other name that came even close to the average mark was Goncalves, with an 8.47. Interestingly enough, the Steelers have reportedly had Oregon G Steven Jones in for an official pre-draft visit, and he posted an incredibly low 2.93. But remember, this is NOT an automatic disqualification. It would simply mean that Jones brings something else other than athleticism to the table.
For context, both of the Steelers’ starters in 2023 scored below the average: Isaac Seumalo scored 7.82, and James Daniels scored 8.55.
Center
Now, we get to arguably the most confusing position. That goes for both Arthur Smith’s average RAS across his tenure and the prospects.
Let’s start with the three centers who have played under Smith. In the 2021 NFL Draft, the Falcons drafted Drew Dalman out of Stanford to play center. His RAS? 9.90. He was brought in to replace Matt Hennessy, who had a respectable 8.90.
Yet when you look at the average RAS for Arthur Smith’s centers, it’s a 7.79. The thanks for that goes squarely to Smith’s center in Tennessee, Mr. Ben Jones. Out of all the offensive linemen I looked at that Smith has coached, Jones had the lowest RAS with a 4.59.
Yet when Alex Kozora did a detailed look into Smith as an offensive mind, Smith described Jones as the toughest and smartest player he’s been around. This is further proof that there is more than athletic measurables to this evaluation process. Once again, this is simply an exercise in looking at players through a general guideline.
So, rather than looking at the average RAS of the three, I cheated a bit and broke it into “Exceeded Drew Dalman” and “Exceeded Matt Hennessey.” Because, ladies and gentlemen, four centers posted a higher RAS than Dalman.
Two of them posted perfect 10.0s. One of them is part of why evaluating the center position in this year’s draft is complicated. Graham Barton of Duke hasn’t played center since his freshman season; he’s been the Blue Devils’ starting left tackle. Yet most people expect that he’ll transition back to center. He’d be one of the most athletic centers in NFL history with a perfect 10.0. Right next to him is Mason McCormick of South Dakota State.
Just behind the double-digit duo is Tanor Bortolini of Wisconsin. He could play guard or center and has great athleticism to do both. He posted a 9.76 RAS for guards, which would greatly exceed Smith’s average. However, he has a 9.98 RAS as a center.
Then, rounding out our “Exceed Drew Dalman” group is Beaux Limmer of Arkansas. He also brings guard versatility with an RAS of 9.79 as a guard. However, as a center, he has an RAS of 9.92, just beating out Dalman.
Our “Exceeds Matt Hennessey” group has two more centers checking in. Dylan McMahon of NC State had an RAS of 9.80, while Kingsley Eguakun of Floria had a 9.58. Eguakun also fits the versatile mode as a guard and has an RAS of 9.10.
You will notice three names that have not been mentioned in this list but are quite common among Steelers fans and media. Jackson Powers-Johnson of Oregon did not fully test, so he has no RAS, but he did do the vertical and broad jump. Those numbers would give him a “great” grade for explosiveness, one of Smith’s most important attributes as a lineman.
Both Sedrick Van Pran-Granger of Georgia and Zach Frazier of West Virginia did all their athletic testing. Both of them posted scores lower than Hennessey’s by a decent amount. They were better than Jones by a much larger margin, though.
Just remember, those scores alone will not disqualify them from hearing their names called for the Steelers in the draft.
For further comparison, former Steelers starting C Mason Cole posted a 6.27 RAS. So athletically speaking, both Van Pran-Granger and Frazier are upgrades over last year’s center.
Final Thoughts
There are always outliers when it comes to the NFL. I highlighted Ben Jones as the most applicable one here. So do not look at this list and exclude any names that did not show up. Where this will likely come into play is when the team has two similarly ranked players. Chances are, they’ll go for the more athletic player.
