INDIANAPOLIS — The Steelers offensive line got an injection of talent when Isaac Seumalo and Broderick Jones came into the fold this offseason. They found two for the future on an offense without many answers at those spots. But the center and left tackle positions continue to fall flat, which makes the young Jones even more exposed when he does make mistakes on the unnatural side at right tackle given he played left tackle, for the most part, at Georgia.
When the snaps are not errant and off the mark, Grover Stewart and DeForest Buckner destroyed Mason Cole in this game. Then, he committed an unnecessary hold that stopped Jaylen Warren’s toss play from succeeding. Pittsburgh has seen him hurt too many plays this year. He is tanking the group.
Then, Dan Moore Jr. is a below-average left tackle. Each week, Moore has disastrous reps time and time again. He is a solid NFL swing tackle, but this is not a guy who should be starting 17 games a year for any serious NFL franchise. They need to go and dip into the pool to address this offensive line next season. If they can add a solid center and another tackle to believe in, this could be a relatively solid offensive line. They are not far off, but the entire unit needs to play above the line to reap the true benefits of it all.
Even if they are not perfect players, and they are not, Jones, Seumalo, and James Daniels feel like players this team can win with overall. But Moore and Cole have to get replaced if the team is serious about pushing the envelope in this window, which they should be given the age of the defense where all their superstars currently are playing it out with a poor offense. They can not afford to let that group go entirely to waste. If they want to make the offense better, these two spots need immediate upgrades.