Pittsburgh Might Start Multiple Rookie Linemen – How Have Other Teams Fared With This?

In the wake of the 2024 NFL Draft there is excitement in Pittsburgh and for their fans. The players the Steelers selected seem to have shown the direction they want to head in and that is being physical. That part of the game starts up front in the trenches.

With two offensive linemen selected in the first two rounds and three total in the first four rounds it leaves us hopeful that the rebuild of the front five is nearing completion. The team hasn’t had this kind of talent and depth in this group in quite a while.

There is a possibility, when Week 1 comes, that the offensive line will consist of two rookie draftees. This will create an exciting group of veterans and youth to lead the team forward. This same scenario could cause some trepidation for some as well. The Steelers have started two rookies recently and the results were less than exemplary.

So, is it a positive or a negative?

I was curious about how often this has happened recently and what the results may have been. I went back through the last five NFL drafts to see which teams had drafted and started two or more rookies and what the results looked like.

In that five-year period, there were 68 times in which a team selected at least two offensive linemen in the same draft year. Of those, there were nine pairings or trios that started a sizable number of games in their rookie year. Let’s take a look.

2022

Los Angeles Chargers:  Zion Johnson (1st Round), Jamaree Salyer (6th)

2022 – 10-7 (lost in the Wild Card)

2021 – 9-8, no playoffs

It was not the Chargers’ intention to start two rookies, but an injury led them in that direction. Zion Johnson was a top pick and expected to start right away and he started every game at right guard. A torn bicep for left tackle Rashawn Slater led to Jamaree Salyer filling in at left tackle for the final 14 games.

Johnson had seven penalties in 2022, including four holding penalties, and five sacks allowed per Pro Football Focus. Salyer’s penalties were three false starts while also allowing five sacks.

Statistically, they went down in most categories, but they did produce one more win and a Wild Card berth was the result. Rushing yards were down by over 300 yards and yards per carry dropped from 4.3 to 3.8. Chargers quarterbacks were sacked an additional eight times in 2022.

Seattle Seahawks: Charles Cross (1st), Abraham Lucas (3rd)

2022 – 9-8 (lost in Wild Card)

2021 – 7-10

In 2021, the Seahawks finished last in the division for the first time since 1996. After that, the team made multiple changes on the offense, including one at quarterback. They swapped out three linemen, including left tackle and right tackle.

In stepped Cross (17 starts) on the left side and Lucas (16) on the right side. This tandem is the highest-penalized pair in this group study. Cross committed nine penalties, including six false starts, while allowing seven sacks. Lucas had seven penalties, including four false starts, and allowed a whopping nine sacks.

The offense, however, led by Geno Smith saw improvement based on league rankings. The Seahawks’ total points, passing yards and total yards all saw a jump into the top half of the league. Passing production went up nearly 500 yards. Rushing yards were essentially the same (32-yard difference) with a small decrease in yards per carry from 5.0 to 4.8. Sacks allowed remained the same at 46.

2021

Green Bay Packers: Josh Myers (2nd), Royce Newman (4th)

2021 – 13-4 (Lost in the Divisional Round)

2020 – 13-3 (Lost in the Conference Championship)

After the 2020 season, Packers All-Pro center Corey Linsley signed with the Chargers and right guard Billy Turner moved outside to right tackle in 2021, opening spots for Myers and Newman. Myers only played six games due to a knee injury, but he was the opening day starter, and the team went 5-1 in those games. He had no penalties in those games and didn’t allow a sack in 293 snaps. Newman started every game at right guard except the regular-season finale. He had four penalties, including two holding calls, and allowed six sacks.

The Packers dipped from the No. 1 scoring offense in 2020 to 10th in 2021 and had just a nine total yard difference between the two years. Passing yards improved by 200 while the rushing yards declined about the same amount with the yards per carry dipping by half a yard in 2021. There was an increase of 12 sacks allowed from 21 to 33. Green Bay lost in the conference finals in 2020 and was booted in the divisional round in 2021.

Kansas City Chiefs: Creed Humphrey (2nd), Trey Smith (6th)

2021 – 12-5 (Lost in the Conference Championship)

2020 – 14-2 (Lost in the Super Bowl)

Coming off a Super Bowl appearance, the Chiefs had to reload. Center Austin Reiter had started most of the games at center but signed with Miami. Kelechi Osemele and Mike Remmers filled the right guard position in 2020. Humphrey and Smith both started every game, including the playoff run, in 2021. Humphrey had four penalties (all holding) and allowed one sack. Smith committed nine penalties, including six holding calls, and surrendered four sacks.

The Chiefs’ offense has been consistently productive for some time, so they saw minimal changes in the rankings. In 2021, they scored seven more points, gained 97 more yards, threw for 63 fewer yards, and ran for 156 more yards. The yards per carry remained a consistent 4.5 but the offense did give up four more sacks.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Kendrick Green (3rd), Dan Moore Jr. (4th)

2021 – 9-7-1 (Lost in Wild Card)

2020 – 12-4 (Lost in Wild Card)

If this is traumatizing, you can skip over this section. In 2020, the team won the AFC North. This was the last hurrah for Maurkice Pouncey and Alejandro Villanueva, Pouncey retired after the season while Villanueva was not re-signed, finishing his career in Baltimore. Enter the two mid-round picks.

Green, a converted guard, never found his footing, committing six total penalties with two-thirds of those being holds and allowing three sacks. Moore wasn’t supposed to start. An injury to Zach Banner pushed Chukwuma Okorafor back to right tackle and Moore was thrust into action. He was flagged five times with three being holds and an abysmal seven sacks surrendered.

The offense had its struggles with an aging Ben Roethlisberger and a new play caller. The points scored fell by 73. The total yards were nearly the same with seven more yards gained in 2021. The passing yards dropped by 225 yards and the rushing yards improved by 232 yards. The yards per carry also improved from 3.6 to 3.9. After a spectacular 14 sacks allowed in 2020 that number ballooned to 38 the following season.

2020

Miami Dolphins: Austin Jackson (1st), Robert Hunt (2nd), Solomon Kindley (4th)

2020 – 10-6

2019 – 5-11

We have our first trio of rookie starters. Under the guidance of then head coach Brian Flores, the Dolphins revamped their offensive line. Just one starter returned, Jesse Davis at right tackle, and he spent time at left tackle in 2020 as well. Jackson (12 starts) played left tackle, Hunt (11) played right tackle and Kindley (13) at right guard and helped the team to a five-win improvement.

Jackson committed two penalties and allowed four sacks. Three false starts led the way for Hunt’s five penalties, and he gave up three sacks. Kindley’s four penalties were half false starts and half holds. He too yielded four sacks.

While just missing out on the playoffs, the Dolphins offensively saw improvement in the rankings. Points scored by Miami went from 306 to 404. Total offense improved by 464 yards. Passing overall had a minimal decrease of 68 yards while the running game saw a significant increase of 532 yards with the yards per carry increasing from 3.3 to 3.9. Sacks had a major fall from 58 in 2019 to 34 in 2020.

New York Giants: Andrew Thomas (1st), Shane Lemieux (5th)

2020 – 6-10

2019 – 4-12

The Giants returned just their starting guards in 2020 and drafted three offensive linemen. Thomas, their first-round pick, was immediately inserted into the left tackle position. When left guard Will Hernandez missed time due to COVID, in stepped Lemieux. Once Hernandez returned, they used a rotation at the guard positions and Lemieux started the final nine games.

Lemieux had just one false start penalty but did allow five sacks. Thomas started all but one game and was flagged five times, three for false starts. He had his struggles in pass protection, leading to 10 sacks.

Despite winning two more games, the offense had its issues with 61 fewer points scored in 2020. Losing Saquon Barkley in Week 2 didn’t help. They also produced 622 fewer total yards. Passing went down by over 700 yards and but rushing went up 83 yards. Yards per carry dipped from 4.7 to 4.4 and the team allowed seven more sacks.

2019

Atlanta Falcons: Chris Lindstrom (1st), Kaleb McGary (1st)

2019 – 7-9

2018 – 7-9

In 2019, the Falcons went all in on the offensive line. They used their first-round pick, 14 overall, to select Lindstrom and then traded back into the end of the first round to take McGary. He was their starting right guard to start the season, but he broke his foot in Week 1. He came back in Week 14 and played five games total. The team went 4-1 with him as a starter. McGary split reps at right tackle in Week 1 and then started the final 16 games.

Lindstrom had one illegal-block-above-the-waist penalty and did not allow a sack. McGary surrendered a league leading 13 sacks and had six false-start penalties.

The Falcons kept the same record while starting the two rookies and scored 33 fewer points. Total yards went down by 151 with passing yards going slightly up. The rushing game went down by over 200 yards and the yards per attempt dropped from 4.5 to 3.8. The sacks allowed saw an increase of eight in 2019.

Houston Texans: Tytus Howard (1st), Max Scharping (2nd)

2019 – 10-6 (Lost in Divisional Round)

2018 – 11-5 (Lost in Wild Card)

Houston made several changes to its offensive line in 2019, including trading for left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Their two rookies weren’t from the blue-blood schools either. They were from Alabama State and Northern Illinois. Howard was inactive to start the season but from Week 2 through Week 11 he was the starter at right tackle until an injury put him on injured reserve. Scharping earned the starting left guard job in Week 3 and started 14 games.

Howard was flagged five times with three of those being false starts. He handled the jump to the NFL well with just two sacks allowed. Scharping was also tagged for five penalties and four of those were false starts. The collegiate tackle allowed just three sacks his rookie season.

The Texans scored 22 fewer points while producing nearly the same number of yards with just a difference of 10. Ditto for the passing yards with 2019 yielding two more passing yards. The rushing yards were close as well with just 12 more in 2018 while the yards per carry increased from 4.3 to 4.6. The sack totals came down from an awful 62 to 49.

Conclusions

What does this look at recent history definitively tell us? Nothing. Since each team and situation is different, we can’t conclude anything concrete but here are some of the facts.

• Six of nine teams made the playoffs. Four of those had made the playoffs the previous season but were able to return with the rookie starters.
• Four teams improved their record, and two others had the same number of wins.
• Points scored went down for six teams and those six averaged a drop of 7.5 in the rankings.
• Total yards went up for five teams but the average change for all nine teams was less than one in the league rankings.
• Passing yards had minimal changes for five teams (from -1 to 2 change) and volatile changes for the other four (plus/minus 8 or more spots in the rankings).
• Yards per carry went down for five teams, including the three most recent teams.
• Just two teams allowed fewer sacks and five teams allowed seven or more additional sacks while starting the newcomers.
• Each team averaged just over 10 penalties for the rookie starters.
• Miami improved by five wins and started three rookies.

While it may not be ideal to start multiple rookies along the offensive line, I don’t think it’s a major negative either. Penalties and sacks allowed by rookies are expected. There are many factors that go into other offensive rankings including injuries, quarterback changes and coaching decisions.

Doomsayers may say it should be avoided but the drop-off, if any, shouldn’t be catastrophic. In fact, the good news for the Steelers is they were so bad the last two years statistically; they can’t drop off that much. They almost are guaranteed an improvement.

With a new offensive coordinator, new quarterback, and new starting receiver this may be the perfect time to add two new starters to the offensive line because everyone will be starting fresh.