After an impressive Week 4 performance that saw the Pittsburgh Steelers’ ground game finally start to get going, the team’s offensive line jumped up five spots in Pro Football Focus’ new offensive line rankings, moving from No. 22 to No. 17 in the NFL.
“The Steelers’ line held up nicely in Week 4. Across 25 drop backs against the Vikings, they allowed four pressures — one being a sack — and achieved a sixth-ranked 90.0 PFF pass-blocking efficiency rating. Second-year guard Mason McCormick stayed clean in pass protection and earned an 86.7 PFF pass-blocking grade, which ranked fifth among all guards this week.”
It was far and away the best performance of the year from the offensive line, and it gets a well-deserved bump in the rankings. In particular, McCormick played what may have been the best game of his career. The Steelers’ plan entering the game was to run the ball, and the success of the offensive line and their heavy package with Darnell Washington and Spencer Anderson deserve a lot of credit for making that happen, especially with Jaylen Warren out.
Zach Frazier hasn’t taken the leap into an All-Pro caliber player that many expected this year, but he’s still somewhat quietly put together a nice season. His low snaps do remain a problem, but he’s only allowed pressure on 2.3% of pass plays, which is lower than his rookie season. Some of that can be attributed to how quickly Aaron Rodgers is letting go of the ball, but it’s still an impressive stat.
If Frazier can get his snap problems figured out, he’s going to consistently be one of the best centers in the league.
While the Steelers have a Week 5 bye, they play host to the Cleveland Browns in Week 6. Cleveland’s offensive line is one of the worst in football, and while the Browns recently acquired OT Cam Robinson, they’ve ranked 28th in football up to this point.
It’s a unit that struggled mightily in Week 4 against the Detroit Lions, specifically Cornelius Lucas, who allowed Aidan Hutchinson to have one of the best defensive performances of the season. The Browns should be getting back OT Jack Conklin who can pair with Robinson at tackle, but the Steelers could be due for a big day defensively in a few weeks.
