Steelers offensive line ranked dangerously close to the bottom of the NFL

The Steelers had major issues with their offensive line last season. Here’s why Pro Football Focus has them dangerously close to the worst in the league in 2021. 

It’s always easy to throw the blame on the offensive line when things are going well. By doing this, you aren’t narrowing the blame on any individual player; rather the entire group. Though the Steelers got sub-par quarterback play in the second half of the season as well as a slew of poor running back performances, this o-line really does deserve a large portion of the blame for the collapse in the offense.

Through the first five games of the season, Pittsburgh remarkably averaged over 136 rushing yards per contest. Unfortunately, this took an abrupt turn for the worse as the season progressed. Eventually, the Steelers would finish dead last in the league in rushing yards, rushing attempts, and yards per attempt, according to Team Rankings.

In pass protection, this unit struggled as well. Though Ben Roethlisberger, for the most part, was kept upright, this is because he had the fastest average time from snap to release in the NFL. In order to make more big plays down the field, this offensive line is going to have to hold up longer in true pass sets in 2021.

Recently, Pro Football Focus’s Steve Palazzolo ranked all 32 NFL offensive lines heading into the 2021 season. He had the Pittsburgh Steelers ranked 31st in the league.

Palazzolo takes a moment to describe the state of the offensive line immediately following the 2020 season and how it looks in its present state. He also goes through each position – detailing where the Steelers are weak. Palazzolo closes with this statement:

"The Steelers enter 2021 with big question marks all over the place, and their offensive line looks like a bottom-tier unit unless players develop across the board."

Is the Steelers offensive line as bad as advertised?

Many fans are cautiously optimistic (or even naively optimistic) about Pittsburgh’s offensive line heading into the 2021 season. But should they be? It’s been 9 years since this team has invested more than a 3rd round pick into the offensive line, and now the Steelers are starting to get what they paid for.

Technically, the team got younger at nearly every position across the board. This is at least one positive to note. Though this isn’t guaranteed to make them a better unit in 2021, their projected starting lineup got a combined 19 years younger in just one season’s time:

This is a pretty substantial difference. It was clear that age was catching up to Maurkice Pouncey, while David DeCastro obviously wasn’t the same player last year that we have come to know after dealing with yet another ankle injury. Likewise, Alejandro Villanueva and Matt Feiler both had worse performances last year than they witnessed in 2019.

Still, it’s important to remember that the Steelers have spent just a pair of 3rd round picks (Chukwuma Okorafor and Kendrick Green) and a few late-round selections on their offensive lines over the past 9 years. We can’t expect this group to magically get better overnight.

While Pittsburgh’s offensive line could prove to be much better than the 31st ranked unit in the league, I can understand why some prominent football analysts have them slated near the bottom of the league. Let’s hope they greatly outplay this negative label in 2021.