The development of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line is at the top of their list of priorities for the 2025 season. With multiple high draft picks invested in the line over the last few years, it’s time for it to turn into not just a good unit, but a dominant one. Aaron Rodgers can help the offensive line get there in multiple ways.
According to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields were near the top of the league in time to throw last season. Fields took an average of 3.04 seconds to get rid of the ball. That was the fourth-longest mark in the league. Wilson was a bit better at 2.86 seconds, but it was still in the bottom half of all quarterbacks.
In comparison, Rodgers was way down the list at 2.69 seconds, the sixth-fastest time to throw.
Football is a game of inches and milliseconds. A few tenths of a second may not sound like much, but that can be the difference between a pressure and a sack. That’s extra time that the young offensive line needed to hold its ground. That was an issue at times last season.
Wilson and Fields entered the 2024 season as two of the most-sacked QBs of the 2023 season. That carried over into their time in Pittsburgh. Wilson took 33 sacks in 11 games and Fields took 16 in six games.
Rodgers took 40 sacks in a full 17 games. Considering the high volume of drop backs he had, that is a fairly low sack percentage compared to Wilson and Fields.
With less time needed to protect Rodgers before the ball comes out, the offensive line’s sacks and pressures allowed should naturally drop this season.
Another way that Rodgers will help is his ability to make calls at the line of scrimmage. There isn’t a defensive look that Rodgers hasn’t seen in 20 years in the league. It seems unlikely that the Steelers will go the same route with Rodgers as they reportedly did with Russell Wilson when they stripped him of his ability to audible.
If Rodgers is able to put his full wealth of knowledge to use, he can check out of disadvantageous looks for his offensive line to prevent mismatches or easy pressures allowed. If defenses are stacking the box or showing a blitz look, he can check into a quick pass to limit the offensive line’s exposure. That is just one example of how checking out of plays can help.
For as long as their offensive line overhaul has been going on, the Steelers haven’t had a quarterback that they trusted with the same level of autonomy as Ben Roethlisberger. With Rodgers, that should change.
Along with his time to throw, the Steelers offensive line should naturally look a lot better.
