Where will David DeCastro be ranked among best OL in Steelers history?

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had some terrific offensive linemen throughout their storied history. Here’s where David DeCastro could be ranked among them. 

I still remember watching the 2012 NFL Draft not believing that there was ever a chance that a player like David DeCastro was going to fall all the way to the 24th overall pick. At this point, a young undrafted Ramon Foster wasn’t a great player yet and Doug Legursky wasn’t cutting it. Though the Steelers had other needs, DeCastro slipped one spot after another until Pittsburgh eventually ran to the podium to make the selection.

Out of all of the picks the Steelers have made over the past decade, there was none that I felt more comfortable with becoming a future star than DeCastro. The former Stanford star was a blue-chip prospect who dominated at the collegiate level. It wouldn’t take him long to do the same with the Steelers.

By the age of 25, David DeCastro became a Pro Bowl player – a trend that would continue every single year until the Steelers elected to release him for medical reasons in the 2021 offseason. In addition to 6 Pro Bowl appearances, DeCastro also earned 2 First-Team All-Pro honors, according to Pro Football Reference. In short, he was considered one of the best players in the NFL at his position for much of the past decade.

Whether or not DeCastro chooses to sign somewhere else or simply elects to retire due to his nagging injuries, he will always be considered a Pittsburgh Steeler. This got me thinking: where will David DeCastro rank among the best Steelers offensive linemen in history when it’s all said and done?

Where does DeCastro rank among best Steelers OL in history?

Obviously, this is a very subjective question and one that nobody will ever completely agree on. Growing up in the 90s, I can’t pretend to know some of the old-school legends as well as the stars I continuously watched over the past twenty-some years. Still, I think Steelers fans from all generations would agree that DeCastro should be very high on this list.

Looking at Pittsburgh’s football history as a whole, the interior offensive line has more legendary stars than the offensive tackles. While Players like Tunch Ilkin, John Colb, Marvel Smith, and even Alejandro Villanueva are considered among Pittsburgh’s best offensive tackles, their interior offensive line trumps this group.

Of the greatest offensive linemen in Pittsburgh Steelers history, many would agree that names like Mike Webster, Alan Faneca, and Dermontti Dawson would be at the top of the list. I would tend to agree. It’s only fair to judge these players for who they were in the NFL at the time, and Webster was phenomenal for the Steelers.

Maurkice Pouncey and Jeff Hartings are two other interior linemen who could be considered among the best, thanks to their reputation as All-Pro players.

These rankings are not easy to comprise, and everyone is going to have their own generational bais. From everything I have seen and researched over the years, I would probably slot DeCastro in as the 4th-best offensive lineman in Steelers history – putting him just behind names like Mike Webster, Alan Faneca, and Dermontti Dawson.

While every Steelers fan may have a list that looks a little different, I think we can all agree that David DeCastro will clearly go down as one of the best offensive linemen in Pittsburgh’s storied history. Every fan should be grateful for what he offered the team for nearly the past decade.