Steelers Analysis
Mason McCormick’s 2025 Steelers Starting Audition Begins Now
Pittsburgh Steelers guard Mason McCormick is getting his 2025 starting audition early after James Daniels’ injury.
After a couple consecutive seasons of relatively good injury luck in the trenches, the injury bug has struck the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line. Just as Isaac Seumalo was getting set to return to the starting lineup, the offense lost his running mate James Daniels to a season-ending achilles injury. In his absence, they’ll be turning to fourth-round selection Mason McCormick, who was part of a trio of investments from the 2024 NFL Draft. After making his first career start last week against the Indianapolis Colts, he’ll be relied upon even more moving forward. After 57 consecutive collegiate starts, experience is on his side.
As a prospect, McCormick didn’t quite make my top-100 big board list but was an intriguing player that I identified as a developmental depth piece and good scheme fit for their offensive system. He was particular impressive as a run blocker on tape, with the ability to explode out of his stance while moving laterally to execute reach blocks and was a functional mover in space as a puller. Another thing that jumped out on film was his ability to finish reps, something that all of the Steelers draft picks along the offensive line had in common. From a size and play strength perspective, he stood out in the manner that you’d expect for a player that’s playing at a school like South Dakota.
McCormick had a very good week at the East-West Shrine Game and tested like a great athlete which boosted his stock throughout the draft process. There were a handful of concerns that caused him to drop to day three of the draft. Specifically, he just hadn’t faced the best competition with only a couple of games against other potential draft picks. He didn’t quite look as great of an athlete in pass protection, specifically when he was isolated in space against finesse rushers where his redirection skills looked modest at best. With that being said, the biggest glaring issue was his pad level. McCormick has a really upright playing style which compromises his ability to sustain blocks to a degree.
Despite the jump in competition, his preseason showing showed some legitimate promise. Due to injuries and struggles from Spencer Anderson, he received some playing time in the Steelers week three matchup against the Broncos, rotating in at guard while also moonlighting a 6th offensive lineman in their jumbo personnel looks. In his first career start, he was tagged with just one pressure allowed in a game that Pittsburgh fell behind early in the contest and was forced into throwing situations more than they would have presumably liked. To help out the rookie, offensive coordinator Arthur Smith frequently slid the protection in his direction to reduce the stress on him in pass pro, which was a quality decision all things considered.
Throughout the game, he was mostly matched up across from long-time defensive tackle Grover Stewart, who has been one of the more underrated interior lineman in the league for quite some time. This led to a pretty up and down debut which was to be expected for a player that’s being thrust into early action due to injuries. But there were some encouraging things out of the gate.
McCormick still looked like a good athlete, got off the snap quickly and even got to the second level to help spring a couple of the few successful runs that the Steelers generated on the afternoon. In pass pro, his anchor held up fairly well. His hand placement was consistently solid with flashes of independent hand usage and the ability to refit when necessary. One thing that he’s already very comfortable with is mixing up his pass sets to keep rushers guessing, utilizing jump sets to establish first meaningful contact in an effort to win the rep early. While there weren’t any highlight-worthy finishes, McCormick was consistently playing with an edge and to the whistle on every play and that’s always good to see from an offensive lineman.
However it wasn’t perfect by any means. Whether it was on base blocks or double teams, neither he or his partners in the trenches could move the aforementioned Stewart off the line of scrimmage. Pad level was a consistent issue, with him falling off blocks and hurting his ability to really generate any displacement on defenders. As you’d expect, the chemistry between he and Frazier is still very much a work in progress and there were times where those two just simply weren’t in sync on their assignments. There were a couple lunges in pass pro but nothing too overly concerning there. He did pick up his first penalty of the season which is only notable because that was a huge knock on him coming out as a prospect after picking up ten flags in 2023.
When McCormick was drafted, the common assumption was that he would be given a redshirt year and fight for a starting gig next season with Daniels slated to hit free agency in the spring. Now, that timeline has been accelerated. While it’s not realistic to expect him to come in right away and replicate that level of production, merely competent play would be much appreciated. It’s difficult to find decent offensive lineman in today’s day and age. Every team is searching for quality depth and no offensive line coach is truly stratified with their room no matter how much the team invests in it.
His development on the fly is now a huge storyline for the remainder of the season. It’s also a massive opportunity for McCormick to prove his worth to the organization. It won’t be flawless and he’s going to make his fair share of rookie mistakes. But by plan, he’s going to get a dozen games to prove to the Steelers that he’s capable of holding down the spot for the foreseeable future. In the event that he comes along nicely and the franchise is able to find a legitimate starter on day three of the draft, that would be a massive win for the front office.
One thing to note is that McCormick has only played 19 snaps on the right side of the offensive line since his freshman year of college. That transition is another plot twist to this entire story. For some, flipping sides is seamless and smooth. For others, it makes them feel like they’re playing left-handed in the interim. So it will be interesting to see just how quickly he’s able to adapt to his new home.
In the meantime, you can expect the coaching staff to try to give him help when possible. With the Steelers still trying to jumpstart a rushing attack that has yet to take flight, McCormick could give them a spark that Anderson simply wasn’t capable of doing in the first few weeks of the season. The good news is that his first home start comes against a Dallas Cowboys defense that ranks dead last in rushing EPA/play and is missing their two best players on that side of the ball. Let the audition begin.
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