The Pittsburgh Steelers revamped offensive line looks impressive on paper with Troy Fautanu and Broderick Jones as the bookend tackles, Zach Frazier as the plug-and-play center, and two solid veterans at guard with James Daniels and Isaac Seumalo.
Pro Football Focus recently ranked the Steelers’ offensive line as the ninth-best unit in the NFL.
“The Steelers spent back-to-back first-round picks on offensive tackles and then selected center Zach Frazier in the second round of this year’s draft. Those investments should pay off soon, and the team already got solid play from its guards in 2023,” Zoltan Buday of PFF wrote.
“Isaac Seumalo, who Pittsburgh signed as a free agent last year, put together a good 2023 season after some initial struggles and finished the year as the 12th-highest-graded guard in the NFL.”
Most pundits have been impressed with what the Steelers have done upfront. However, former Cleveland Browns scout Scott DiBenedetto is not one of them. DiBenedetto ranked the Steelers’ new-look offensive line as the 26th-best group in the NFL.
“What kept them low for me is, very little continuity, lot of young guys. You’re gonna have two rookies and then Broderick Jones playing left tackle, but he played all last year at right tackle, so you could almost call him a rookie at left tackle,” DiBenedetto said during an appearance on the Fantasy Points podcast, via Anthony Halkias of SteelersNation.com.
“It’s just so unproven to me, and with a lot of young players, Broderick Jones wasn’t great last year at right tackle. I think they have a plan, and they’re trying to build that foundation of the line again, I just don’t see it this year. I think they have too much change, too many young players.”
Saying that Jones wasn’t great at right tackle last season is a stretch. While he struggled at pass-blocking at times, he was dominant in the run game. Just watch the Steelers’ Week 17 win over the Seattle Seahawks when Pittsburgh rushed for 202 yards. The Steelers’ run game took off once Jones entered the starting lineup in Week 9.
DiBenedetto is right that the Steelers’ offensive line needs to build more continuity in order to be a top 10 group, but the potential is certainly there. A No. 26 ranking seems exaggerated because of the continuity part. Talent-wise, the Steelers should be up there with the league’s upper echelon offensive lines sooner rather than later.