If there is one thing Pittsburgh Steelers fans can't complain about when it comes to how general manager Omar Khan has built his roster, it's his commitment to building up the offensive line. Since taking over in 2023, Khan has selected seven offensive linemen, with three of them being first-round picks. The Broderick Jones pick aside, all of them either look to be working out or are rookies we have yet to see play.
Thanks to Khan's determination to field a strong front, there is a chance we will see a starting lineup of ascending talents under 27 by the time the 2026 season begins. Center Zach Frazier, guard Mason McCormick, and Troy Fautanu have already solidified their starting spots. At the same time, rookies Max Iheanachor and Gennings Dunker could join them in the starting lineup as early as Week 1.
Despite the youth and upside the unit boasts, ESPN's Mike Clay doesn't view them as a quality unit heading into the season. In his latest OL projections, he ranked Pittsburgh's group 24th in the NFL.
Current 2026 NFL Offensive Line projected starters: pic.twitter.com/oGq7k4anGY
— Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) May 12, 2026
Mike Clay's 2026 OL projections have the Pittsburgh Steelers group far lower than fans could have imagined
Just looking through the rankings and how Clay formulated these projections, it's easy to see why the Steelers come in lower than you might expect. First, he is penciling in the rookies as starters right away. While that could very well end up being the case, it lowers their score significantly thanks to a lack of NFL experience. Dunker, for example, received a score lower than Dolphins' second-year guard Jonah Savaiinaea, who had one of the worst seasons by a guard in recent memory as a rookie.
Add in the lack of respect (in my opinion, at least) for what Fautanu showed in his first full season as a starter, and Pittsburgh quickly falls behind several other teams with suspect starting lineups. If Iheanachor and Dunker are even average players as rookies, I have a hard time believing this unit would be considered anything worse than a middle-of-the-pack group compared to others across the league.
I don't blame Clay for slotting Pittsburgh in as the 24th-ranked unit based on how he produced his projections, but it's a good example of how hard it can be to factor in every meaningful metric available without getting some strange results.
Moving away from the Steelers for a second, does anyone really think the Kansas City Chiefs will have one of the worst lines in the league? Or that the Colts, even after losing multiple starters, won't keep fielding a strong group like they consistently have for years? I imagine even Clay himself would agree that they will likely outperform his projections, and the Steelers (barring any major disappointments) should as well.
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