One of the biggest questions for the Pittsburgh Steelers heading into the 2025 season is their offensive line. While C Zach Frazier had a strong rookie campaign and OG Isaac Seumalo is a proven veteran, there’s at least a question mark at every other position. Mason McCormick had a decent rookie campaign but whether he can carry that over into 2025 and improve his game is at least worth pondering. Meanwhile, OT Broderick Jones is looking to prove he’s not a bust after a move back to left tackle, and Troy Fautanu will get his first extended look at the NFL after missing almost all of 2024 with a knee injury.
Appearing on The Pomp And Joe Show on 93.7 The Fan, former Steelers offensive line coach Russ Grimm, who also played offensive line for 10 years and was a member of Washington’s famed “Hogs” offensive line, said that youth isn’t a concern for the Steelers, and that they just need to make sure they have the “right type of guys.”
“I know Arthur Smith. I coached with Art in Tennessee, and he likes to run the ball,” Grimm said. “You like to have some seasoned vets, but when we got the nickname Hogs, we had like four rookies starting up front. Young people can play, you just gotta get the right type of guys.”
Grimm worked with Arthur Smith in 2016 and 2017, when he was the Titans’ offensive line coach and Smith was Tennessee’s tight ends coach. The Steelers will undoubtedly look to run under Smith and ideally will be able to run more of his core zone scheme, which he pivoted from last year. Having the right personnel to run it will be important, and the Steelers think they do.
Building up the offensive line was a focus for Omar Khan after taking over as Pittsburgh’s GM. He has since drafted Jones and Fautanu in the first round, Frazier in the second round, McCormick in the fourth round and signed Seumalo. The focus was to build through the trenches, and this is the first year we get to see a group composed of all players brought in by Khan.
The potential is high for the unit, but after Jones struggled for much of 2024 and the general inexperience of Fautanu, along with questions about McCormick’s ceiling, there’s no guarantee it’s going to be a Steelers strength in 2025.
But there certainly have been flashes, and if Frazier can improve on his impressive rookie campaign, Jones can look like a first-round talent at his natural position, and Fautanu and McCormick do what’s expected of them, the line could be good. The Steelers feel they have the right blend of pieces to succeed, and the success of their offense will largely hinge upon whether they do have the right guys to make offensive line a strength.
