The Pittsburgh Steelers may have lost their final preseason game, but they got much better performances out of many of their starters. That doesn’t mean it was all good. In particular, the depth of the offensive line did not look good at all. Once the starters were taken out, things did not look good. And i seems Mike Tomlin is well aware of how the Steelers are lacking in that area.
Speaking to the media after the Steelers’ 24-17 loss to the Detroit Lions, Tomlin was asked why he had Justin Fields work with the starters even though he didn’t start the game.
“Because you just wanted to put some people around him that could protect him,” Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel. “That’s appropriate. You could see I got nervous when we moved on from some of those groups, and I got him out of there.”
Tomlin’s worries were proven correct, with many of the backup offensive linemen having a tough day. The starting unit looked good, but if they suffer any injuries, whoever the Steelers’ quarterback is will be in trouble.
Part of that is probably because of some injuries that unit is dealing with. Troy Fautanu, potentially one of their starting tackles, has been out of action for a few weeks. Nate Herbig, their starting center and top backup interior linemen, has been lost for the season. Fautanu should be back soon, but the Steelers still need more offensive line depth.
The most glaring hole the team has right now is at center. Rookie Zach Frazier has looked good so far, but there’s no reliable option to back him up on the roster right now. The Steelers are going to have to look around at free agents once teams cut down to their 53-man rosters. One injury to Frazier could leave them scrambling.
With Tomlin being so candid about how he doesn’t feel good about the Steelers’ depth along the offensive line, it’s likely the team will look around for help in that area. The Steelers have been active when rosters have been trimmed down in the past, so expect them to keep an eye on quality offensive linemen who are let go. There’s no telling if anyone who gets released will be good enough, but they’re running out of options.
