The entire team knows that a lot is riding on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ young offensive line. Their season can go as far as that group takes them. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Cam Heyward started his Jacksonville Jaguars preseason game recap praising the offensive line.
“First and foremost, I thought the trenches looked good, especially on the offensive side of the ball,” Heyward said via his Not Just Football podcast. “I think you look at our group, our o-line coming back, and you look to see if they developed. And they put on a good performance for Week 1. But we’re gonna need more of that.
“To see our o-line performing at a high level in their first game of the preseason was really nice.”
The solid performance of that group came mostly against the Jaguars’ starting defense, including formidable players like Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen. The Steelers only allowed one sack, but as Heyward noted, Mason Rudolph has to get rid of the ball after six seconds. It was a coverage sack more than anything.
Pittsburgh came away from that opening drive with a touchdown against the Jaguars’ starters, and with far fewer of its own starters lined up together on offense. It was a small sample size, but they passed the first test.
Other than Isaac Seumalo, the four young linemen all played together for a couple drives. We will see if Seumalo ends up getting any preseason snaps this year, but it’s important for the full group to get as many reps as possible together.
Learning how they each communicate before the snap, or the small details of how they like to pass off blocks to each other are things that can only be learned through time spent on the field together.
Last year, Steelers played some of their starting linemen much deeper into the preseason games. The fact that they pulled them early in their first one is a good sign that they generally liked what they were seeing.
The arrow is pointing up for the Steelers’ young offensive line, and therefore the team’s chances in 2025.
