Five weeks, five different starting lineups for the Pittsburgh Steelers along the offensive line.
That’s never a recipe for success, no matter how deep you are. That depth for the Steelers has been heavily tested in the first five weeks of the season, and it’s created a significant challenge for them.
But for head coach Mike Tomlin, those challenges are going to benefit the Steelers moving forward along the offensive line.
“I’m not displeased with how they’re functioning, and to be quite honest with you, it may affect us at the beginning of games. I know you guys have asked a lot about the lack of fluidity and some of our starts, and sometimes it’s just that we’ve had a Rolodex of a lineup, but we won’t allow it to be an excuse for us,” Tomlin said Tuesday during his weekly press conference, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “It won’t affect our ability to secure victory over the course of 60 minutes. Oftentimes it just takes a little while as a collective, a particular collective, to warm up to the work that needs to be done within the stadium. And so that’s how it’s been. We haven’t started with the fluidity that we’d like, but over the course of 60 minutes it always seems to smooth out and position us to win, and I think that’s been the case more recently as well.
“In the meanwhile, we’re getting quality experience from some young guys and they’re proving that they’re capable and that they belong. And so that’s exciting. As we get guys back, I think we’re really gonna benefit from some of the challenges that have come with some of the rotations that you mentioned.”
Having five different starting lineups along the offensive line, especially when they are including a handful of young players seeing their first NFL action and some even making their first starts can be very challenging.
So far, the Steelers’ offensive line has been up and down. They’ve had issues protecting quarterback Justin Fields and opening up lanes for running back Najee Harris. Those struggles up front have hindered the offense under Arthur Smith a bit, too.
But going through that adversity now might be a good thing in the end for the Steelers, who are having their depth tested and are getting young pieces onto the field and gaining experience in a big way. It certainly would be nice to have some stability up front, and maybe that occurs now with Isaac Seumalo back in the lineup and Mason McCormick at right guard.
That’ll be something worth watching in the trenches.
But they have to figure out how to start faster in an effort to not play from behind or have to “warm up” to things offensively. That has been a real hindrance to the Steelers’ offense through the first five weeks of the season.
