Entering the 2024 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line was a major question mark, considering the health of left guard Isaac Seumalo and the poor play in the preseason from second-year offensive tackle Broderick Jones.
Things were rough in the preseason, without a doubt. So it was surprising to see Pro Football Focus rank the Steelers’ offensive line No. 9 entering Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons.
In the 18-10 win over the Falcons, Pittsburgh’s offense line was just fine. The unit allowed just six pressures and helped the Steelers run for 141 yards, taking it to the Falcons’ front seven late in the game.
Despite the relatively strong performance, which saw them finish Week 1 with the third-best pass-blocking grade in the league, the Steelers’ offensive line fell seven spots in the latest rankings from PFF.
The Steelers dropped all the way to No. 16, falling behind the likes of the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers and Falcons.
“The Steelers were without injured guard Isaac Seumalo, who was replaced by 2023 seventh-round pick Spencer Anderson. Anderson played just one snap last season but did not stand out in either a good or bad way, as he earned a 58.1 PFF overall grade,” PFF’s Zoltan Buday writes regarding the Steelers’ OL ranking for Week 2. “Left tackle Dan Moore Jr., who struggled last season, had a career day against the Falcons. In Pittsburgh’s win, Moore did not allow a single pressure and was not beaten once on 31 pass-blocking snaps.
“As a result, he earned a career-high 88.7 PFF pass-blocking grade, which ranked third among offensive tackles in Week 1.”
The Steelers ran the football relatively well, but the run-blocking grades from PFF didn’t exactly align with the statistical output. In fact, the Steelers had the 10th-worst run blocking grade in the NFL last week at 61.8 overall.
Running back Najee Harris and quarterback Justin Fields combined for 127 rushing yards in the win on 34 carries, but the Steelers never found the end zone and struggled to put the game away late, giving the Falcons one last possession.
Considering the Steelers had two players making their first-ever starts in the NFL in left guard Spencer Anderson and rookie center Zach Frazier, the performance from the offensive line overall was solid.
That is especially true for Dan Moore Jr. He didn’t allow a single pressure on the day and, as PFF pointed out, was the third-best tackle in Week 1 from a pass-blocking grade perspective.
It was right guard James Daniels though who earned the highest praise from PFF. Daniels was named the Steelers’ best player along the offensive line despite allowing one pressure and a sack.
Daniels graded out at a 75.8 overall, which was .4 better than Moore. Doesn’t make any sense, but here we are.
With Seumalo likely out in Week 2 against the Denver Broncos and Moore battling an ankle injury coming out of the win over the Falcons, the Steelers’ offensive line will be dealing with some adversity once again.
