The Pittsburgh Steelers are keeping it going with Pat Meyer watching over their offensive line. Stocked with four draft picks over the past two years, he has a good deal of fresh clay to mold. Fans are outraged, of course, believing he is not the right man for the job. They worry that another year of what they perceive as subpar coaching will threaten to set the line back more.
Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette offered some defense of Meyer, though, and the Steelers’ decision to retain him. He is the first line coach they have had since Mike Munchak to offer any stability, and they clearly want that to continue. While fans routinely knock him for the lack of development of Broderick Jones, there is more to it.
“As far as the Pat Meyer stuff goes, look. I don’t think he’s Mike Munchak, but if you’re gonna bang him for Broderick Jones”, Fittipaldo said on 93.7 The Fan, “you also have to be fair and say he developed Zach Frazier. And he was on the way to developing Troy Fautanu to the point where…Gerry Dulac was told from somebody in that organization that he was already the Steelers’ best lineman in August.
“So if you’re gonna criticize [Meyer] for guys, you also have to give him credit for the way he developed those two rookies. I get it, Broderick’s been a disappointment. Pat has to eat that, to a certain extent. But I don’t know that it’s all fair”.
The Steelers used first-, second-, and fourth-round picks on Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier, and Mason McCormick, respectively. That gave Pat Meyer three new players to coach, which is both a reward and a challenge. And to his credit, he trained all of them well enough to enter the starting lineup. McCormick ascended to that status due to injury, but he acquitted himself sufficiently well.
That doesn’t absolve Meyer of all blame, and it’s not just about individual players. While Frazier and McCormick individually may have done themselves credit, the line as a unit had issues. At the same time, issues with cohesiveness are not uncommon when working with multiple rookies.
It seems rather obvious that the Steelers believe the evaluation of Pat Meyer is incomplete. After all, they still don’t have the two first-round picks they gifted him where they want. Broderick Jones is supposed to be at left tackle. And Troy Fautanu is supposed to be on the field, missing all but one game after injuring his knee.
The Steelers suggested there would be changes this offseason, and fans hoped that Pat Meyer would be one of those changes. Reportedly, that will not come about this year. But if the line remains healthy and doesn’t take that crucial step forward, it’s hard to imagine him returning thereafter. And it doesn’t appear he is under contract for 2026, which helps them justify the move.
