The Pittsburgh Steelers have invested heavily in their offensive line in recent years, through draft picks and free agency, and yet they are still waiting for a return on those investments.
This season was supposed to be the breakout for the group up front, with Broderick Jones sliding to left tackle and Troy Fautanu taking over at right tackle after returning from injury. But if Week 1 of the season is any indication, it could be a rocky season for the Steelers’ offensive line.
Pittsburgh allowed eight pressures, four sacks and seven quarterback hits of Aaron Rodgers against the New York Jets. That’s not a sustainable stat line moving forward for a team with a 41-year-old quarterback.
For The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo, the inconsistency of the young offensive line is only going to continue this season, which is very concerning.
“The Steelers’ young offensive line took its lumps on Sunday — and I don’t think that’s going to substantially change,” DeFabo writes. “Pittsburgh has invested heavily in the trenches with a pair of first-round picks at tackle (Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu) and a second-round pick at center (Zach Frazier). However, that group opened few rushing lanes and failed to keep Aaron Rodgers upright. The Steelers managed just 53 rushing yards and 2.7 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Rodgers was sacked four times and hit seven times in total.
“What was supposed to be a strength of the offense remains a weakness. They may show growth at times this year, but I expect the offensive line will continue to be inconsistent.”
Not only was the inability to protect Rodgers a real concern, so too were the struggles in the run game. Pittsburgh was unable to establish a consistent ground attack, which largely made the offense one-dimensional. The Steelers rushed for just 53 yards on 20 carries, never really getting a consistent ground game going.
While the defensive line was pushed around throughout the game by the Jets’ run game, Pittsburgh had no answer physically on the other side of the football either.
All but one offensive lineman — Mason McCormick at 63.9 overall — graded below 60.0 on Sunday against the Jets, according to Pro Football Focus. Zach Frazier (57.6), Fautanu (56.2), Jones (54.5), and Seumalo (53.2) all struggled against the Jets. That’s a major concern.
Of course, some of the struggles and poor performances could be attributed to coaching, too. The Steelers made the surprise decision to bring back offensive line coach Pat Meyer for another season, hoping continuity would turn things around. That hasn’t been the case early on though.
It won’t get much easier in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks with the likes of Jarran Reed, Boye Mafe, Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II and Uchenna Nwosu coming to town as part of a talented defensive front.
The offensive line has to step up and start performing if the Steelers want to have sustained success this season. Week 1 was a poor performance. Time for a bounce back.
