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No positional unit on the Pittsburgh Steelers saw more turnover this offseason than did the offensive line. Starting left guard Ramon Foster retired and the primary backup on the interior, B.J. Finney, signed with the Seattle Seahawks.
Last season the Steelers offensive line finished No. 9 in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus.
Injuries to the quarterback, running back and wide receiver positions quickly turned one of the NFL’s better offenses from a season ago into a unit that averaged more yards per play than only the Redskins, Bears and Jets this season. The Steelers’ offensive line simply didn’t play at the same level it did last year when it finished the regular season as the top unit in the NFL for us at PFF. But they were still solid up front, particularly in pass protection, where they put up an 81.6 pass-blocking grade that trailed only the Ravens and Saints this season.
Most teams would be happy to have the ninth-best offensive line but for the Steelers this was a fairly significant step back. It will be up to the coaches to figure out which combination of five can help this team get the run game back on track.
The Steelers haven’t had a rushing offense in the Top 15 since 2016 and the last two seasons ranked 29th in 2019 and 31st in 2018. Some of this falls on the talent at running back but the offensive line must shoulder some of the blame as well.
Which positions are in question? Primarily it’ll be left guard. The team signed Stefan Wisniewski but he is at best a stop-gap player and might not even win the starting left guard spot vacated by Foster.
If the Steelers really want to get the five best offensive linemen on the field, the answer could be to move the current starting right tackle Matt Feiler over to guard and open up the competition for right tackle.
Pittsburgh currently has at least two capable players and perhaps even a third who could battle it out for the starting right tackle spot. Zach Banner and Chuks Okorafor are both promising young players who deserve a shot. You could even toss Derwin Gray in there but he’s largely an unknown at this point.
Regardless, this is one of those situations the Steelers cannot ignore. How great would be to have Mike Munchak back right now to help coach up these young guys?
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