O-line guru Brandon Thorn thinks the Pittsburgh Steelers are building something special up front. In a deep dive of the NFL’s front fives, broken down by division, Thorn tabbed the Steelers as the AFC North’s breakout offensive line. Through his Trench Warfare substack, he cited the team’s heavy draft investments as a big reason for the turnaround.
“The Steelers have invested two first (Broderick Jones & Troy Fautanu) and one second round (Zach Frazier) picks into their offensive line over the two drafts with two free agent guard signings since 2022. This has resulted in the fourth most draft capital spent on a starting five in the NFL entering the 2024 season. Pittsburgh’s new-look line is currently projected to be the fifth youngest unit in the league and ranks eighth in weight-adjusted RAS (compared to 24th in 2023).”
According to Thorn’s data, the Steelers are tied for the fourth-most offensive line draft capital spent up front of any team in the NFL. That’s headlined by their past two first round picks, trading up for OT Broderick Jones in 2023 and landing OT Troy Fautanu in 2024. It marked the first time in team history that it drafted first round offensive tackles in consecutive drafts. Pittsburgh kept its focus on the offensive line into Day 2 of this year’s picks, taking West Virginia C Zach Frazier in the second round. Frazier is expected to start Day 1.
Beyond the metrics, Thorn likes the vision the Steelers are creating.
“While the unit looks much improved on paper, on film it is clear that there is a seismic shift in the physicality level and overall play strength compared to recent years given the evaluations of Jones, Fautanu and Frazier coming out. Also, Seumalo is coming off of what was probably the best year of his career last season and will be the leader of the unit.”
Fautanu is an athletic mauler in the run game whose long arms make up for his lack of height. Frazier is a technician with impressive functional strength. Jones’ insertion into the starting lineup immediately boosted Pittsburgh’s running game, the team putting up multiple 200-yard performances with him as the Steelers’ right tackle. Seumalo has size and strength while Daniels is a competent run blocker, though he’s not a mauler like some of the others lined up around him.
Hiring Arthur Smith as the team’s new offensive coordinator marries a run-heavy philosophy to their talent. Thorn thinks the system could work wonders.
“Add in the new scheme of Arthur Smith that will put the line in more favorable situations with a run-first, play-action approach and the ecosystem is in place for a young, explosive line to hit the ground running and lean on their strengths over the course of the season.”
Behind Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh should threaten to become a top-five team in rushing attempts, a common finish under Smith-led offenses. A higher run-success rate will be one of the team’s goals along with a couple more explosive runs, especially from Harris, who has been capped around the 20- to 25-yard range throughout his NFL career. The Steelers might finally have the offensive line to do it.
