Pittsburgh’s offensive line has really struggled all summer, but here’s why there is plenty of blame to go around the Steelers organization for their struggles.
This is hardly the start we were hoping for from the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line. We all know that this is just preseason football, but it’s concerning that the starting unit looks as bad as it does at the moment. Against the Jaguars, Kendrick Green, Dan Moore, and James Daniels were routinely beaten as they forced Mitch Trubisky to run for his life.
Clearly, the offensive line deserves much of the blame for the offensive woes early in the preseason game against Jacksonville. This group has been disastrous so far. However, it’s hard to pin everything on them when the root of the problem was not addressed. Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert deserve their fair share of the blame as well.
Over the past 10 years, the Steelers have spent higher than a third-round selection on the offensive line. In fact, no team has less draft capital invested in their OL during the past decade of football than the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Steelers front office did this to themselves
This is a recipe for disaster, but one of their own doing. It would be like plugging in an old tube TV you found in your grandmother’s basement and expecting it to compete with the vibrant 4k picture all of your neighbors have at home. That’s just not the way it works.
Other NFL organizations use analytics. They know the value of the offensive line and routinely invest in offensive trench players that help pave roads in the running game and keep their quarterback upright. For whatever reason, the Steelers just don’t seem to value the offensive line very much.
In addition to the offensive line being void of a single first or second-round selection since 2012, the Steelers haven’t spent a first-round pick on an offensive tackle since taking Jamain Stephens in 1996, via Pro Football Reference — 25 years ago. This is completely uncalled for, and missing on a tackle over two decades ago shouldn’t have any bearing on their draft strategy today.
The sheer neglect of the offensive line has clearly caught up with them, and Mike Tomlin can’t expect a patchwork job with a few mid-level free agents to magically solve all of their issues.
I’m not trying to defer the blame away from players like Kendrick Green, Dan Moore, and James Daniels. These are NFL football players who clearly need to step up their game. However, in a way, it’s somewhat humorous that Tomlin recently reamed these guys out in front of the team. Does he expect them to play like first-round talents when they simply are not?
Everyone would agree that the Steelers offensive line needs to start making some major strides, but as the old saying goes, ‘you get what you pay for.’ Tomlin and Colbert neglected the offensive line for so long hoping that there wouldn’t be fatal consequences. Now it’s really catching up with them.