Steelers Offensive Line Has Plenty to Prove
Story by Yinzer Crazy Featured Steelers Contributor Adam Davidson. Follow him on Twitter @Adam_J_Davidson
(*includes exclusive interview with Kevin Dotson below)
When things fall apart without warning, such as with a glass shattering on the floor, it’s easy to stand there in shock and to take a few seconds before cleaning up. It’s a human reaction that often displays itself on a societal level. It’s what often fuels the bystander effect, when citizens believe action is being taken after a huge catastrophic event when in fact no action is being taken.
In the world of football, whether it’s a broken face mask or a broken fibula, everyone is quick to react. Everyone knows their responsibility. But such events in football can be more abstract, less obvious and therefore, lead to little or no immediate action. Such as with a broken offensive line.
In the case of the Steelers offensive line in 2021, everyone involved attempted to address a unit that had fallen apart after dominating defenses league-wide for the better part of a decade. In the span of just a few seasons, the Steelers lost longtime starters and Pro Bowlers such as Ramon Foster, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro and Alejandro Villanueva to retirement or free agency. And even acknowledging that requires the recognition that all four individuals had experienced a decline in performance over their final seasons with the team.
So perhaps the sudden transition the Steelers experienced could have been prevented with a little extra focus on developing depth across the line. Instead, the Steelers as a team were forced to fit square pegs into round holes and rush rookies Kendrick Green and Dan Moore Jr. onto the field in 2021. What resulted was the definition of inconsistency. For every inspired performance, every flash of fire and intensity such as their opening week performance against Buffalo, there was an instance of poor communication and inexperience. Take, for example, their matchups against Minnesota and Kansas City, where defenders manhandled the Steelers offensive line enroute to registering sacks on an aging Ben Roethlisberger.
But one season in football can be equivalent to a decade in the real world. Mistakes made in one season can be learned from and prevented once the next season rolls around. In 2022, Dan Moore Jr. is again in a position to lead an offensive line at its prime position, the left tackle, this time with a whole season under his belt. Left guard Kevin Dotson will no doubt be more comfortable after switching from right to left in his sophomore year of 2021. He talked about his motivation below on our podcast, and mentioned that he tried to come back from injury too early last season. And of course, veteran free agent additions such as Mason Cole and James Daniels will lead a unit whose most experienced in-house player is fifth-year right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor.
Ideally, all these moving pieces would be putting in work this offseason with a quarterback they’ve been tasked with protecting before. But entering 2022, the biggest story in Pittsburgh belongs in the quarterback room because for the first time in almost two decades, the starting quarterback is a question mark.
Out of the four men in that room, three are battling for the starting role. Out of those three, just one, Mason Rudolph, has prior experience in a Steelers uniform. In all likelihood, Rudolph figures to be the entrenched backup this season, a role he’s well-accustomed to. Veteran Mitch Trubisky will be given the inside track to start in 2022, considering his price tag and previous experience leading playoff-caliber teams in Chicago. His experience with guard James Daniels is a definite plus. And Kenny Pickett, the Steelers’ long-term solution in a world post-Roethlisberger, will be afforded a number of games yet to be determined to study and learn behind Trubisky.
At least those are the plans at the outset. The team must be ready to learn and think on its feet if plans go awry. Whatever the case, this offensive line is facing a make-or-break year and may very well be the most critical individual unit on this Steelers offense. It would no doubt help if the ground game gets going, following a season in which Najee Harris struggled to gain much traction as the team’s bell-cow.
Other skill position players will lighten the pressure on the new pieces to the Steelers’ offensive puzzle. The names are obvious: Johnson, Claypool, Freiermuth. In what is often a source for debate among football diehards, it can be asserted that skill position players make their offensive line look good, not vice versa. But it all depends on team chemistry.
The ensuing months of training camp and preseason will be the telltale sign for whether this offense, and its offensive line, will remain stuck in the mud, or move forward and dominate as they should on paper. New offensive line coach Chris Morgan - a former assistant coach in Chicago - is tasked with building the necessary discipline and camaraderie among his offensive line and improving a unit that’s been declining for years since Mike Munchak’s departure.
Coaching, chemistry, talent. All qualities needed in bunches to excel in the league at any positional group. What often goes unnoticed is the element of luck.
Often disregarded is the luck the Steelers experienced in not just fielding a healthy offensive line unit for the better part of a decade, but the luck they had in scouting, drafting and developing such players. Just as in the beginning of the past decade, the Steelers were forced to start fresh after the departure of the likes of Alan Faneca and Jeff Hartings. Now, the Steelers are back at square one. Time will tell if the coaching, chemistry and talent will bear fruit for the Steelers. But luck, above all else, will help get them over the top.
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