Before the Pittsburgh Steelers’ losing streak was complete, Mike Tomlin downplayed the idea a worn-out offensive line was part of the problem. Fast forward to the very end of the season and Tomlin admits the notion has merit. During his year-end press conference earlier this week, he acknowledged that was a possibility.
“We absorbed a lot of attrition during the course of the journey,” Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel. “We ended up playing a lot of young people. They responded in a real positive way, but maybe they fatigued mentally and physically. Those are things that we are unearthing as we begin this information-gathering process.”
Pittsburgh started a pair of rookies in center Zach Frazier and right guard Mason McCormick for much of the season. Frazier replaced an injured Nate Herbig in training camp and started the rest of the way save for a two-game absence after suffering an ankle sprain. McCormick began playing in Week 3 with Isaac Seumalo out the first month before taking over at right guard for veteran James Daniels, who was lost to a torn Achilles. Combined, they logged nearly 2,000 snaps.
In downplaying the idea midseason, Tomlin cited Frazier and McCormick’s extensive college experience preparing them for these home stretches. Seniors used to playing plenty and for McCormick’s playoff-bound South Dakota State teams, working into December wasn’t anything new.
It was a fair point. But it doesn’t consider how long a rookie season truly is. For them, it doesn’t begin on draft day. It starts the year before as their final college seasons kick off in August. They go through their entire season, participate in college All-Star games, the Combine, Pro Day, pre-draft workouts, and then they get drafted. From there, they have rookie minicamp, OTAs, a brief six-week break followed by training camp, three preseason games, an entire 17-game regular season, and the playoffs. It’s a heavy toll physically and mentally on anyone, especially with the Steelers’ quirky schedule of playing three games in 11 days and going their final four contests not playing on a Sunday, something the franchise hadn’t done since 1933.
It’s no surprise that the unit wore down. There are some caveats in Frazier spending part of his pre-draft prep rehabbing from a broken leg to McCormick missing the playoff game with a broken hand. But it’s still a busy first year and even second-year players like Broderick Jones, starting an entire season after being inserted halfway into 2023’s season, probably felt the impact of a full NFL schedule.
Tomlin isn’t guaranteeing the reason. Frankly, he seemed lost discussing how the team so utterly collapsed. It’s something that seems to have shocked the organization now left to pick up the pieces and search for answers. It seems like fatigue was a component and the only solace the Steelers can take is their young offensive linemen will grow up in Year 2, better off after a grueling rookie year.
