The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line has undergone a makeover over the past half-decade, with the likes of Alejandro Villanueva, Ramon Foster, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro and Marcus Gilbert all departing the team prior to the start of the 2021 season. Since then, Pittsburgh has been attempting to retool a unit that previously stood among the league’s best, signing various free agents and drafting others that didn’t work out in their respective tenures with the team.
Currently, Pittsburgh is going into the season with Broderick Jones, Isaac Seumalo, Zach Frazier, Mason McCormick and Troy Fautanu as their projected starters from left to right along the offensive line. Seumalo is a seasoned veteran entering his 10th NFL season, but the other four starters for Pittsburgh have only 1-2 years of experience in the league. One could argue that Fautanu should be treated more like a rookie after missing all but 55 snaps last year with a season-ending knee injury.
This youth along the offensive line can be viewed as both a positive and a negative for Pittsburgh, depending on one’s perspective. Of course, this unit will have to expect some growing pains to start the season as they look to mesh together. All but Fautanu saw legit game action alongside each other last season, but Broderick Jones will be moving from right tackle to left tackle. At the same time, Mason McCormick will be the clear starter at RG heading into the season after former Steelers G James Daniels began the season as the starter last year.
However, this youth along the Steelers’ offensive line gives them the opportunity to have the unit develop together, similar to what their previous notable group did back in 2012-2014. Pittsburgh drafted DeCastro, Mike Adams and Kelvin Beachum in 2012 to pair with Pouncey, Foster and Gilbert, who had come over from the previous season.
Pouncey and DeCastro would develop into Pro Bowlers on the interior, with Foster becoming a solid starter for several years. Beachum started 39 games for Pittsburgh before getting injured in 2015, opening the door for Villanueva to take the starting job and become a fixture at left tackle for Pittsburgh the next six seasons. Gilbert would go on to start 87 games for Pittsburgh at right tackle, becoming a quality starter like Foster was inside before injuries affected the back half of his career.
Now, this isn’t to say that this 2025 Steelers’ offensive line is going to become like the 2015 unit. However, just as we saw with that unit, the offensive line had to endure some growing pains over a period of time and replaced a couple of pieces to become a dominant unit upfront. The same is plausible for this 2025 unit as they look to become a solid group that can grow and work together. We saw instances of it last season as Frazier and McCormick looked particularly good beside each other, giving Pittsburgh a much-needed physical demeanor in the running game.
Coaching will go a long way in how the 2025 unit develops. No one is probably going to confuse OL coach Pat Meyer with Mike Munchak, who helped develop that unit a decade ago. Still, the investment is there with two first-round picks, a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick into the Steelers’ offensive line in just the last two seasons, along with Seumalo, who came to the team on a sizable deal in free agency back in 2023.
With the average age of the Steelers’ offensive line being 25.4 years old, there is plenty of promise for this unit in years to come, regardless of whether Seumalo is re-signed after this season. However, with their youth comes a lack of experience playing together, which means they will likely face growing pains this coming season. If Fautanu comes back from injury well and Jones shows more confidence on the left side, this unit could set itself up as a strong up-and-coming group to pay attention to across the league.
