Pittsburgh added three new offensive linemen to the line in its first five picks in the college draft
PITTSBURGH — Pat Meyer he smiled, as he took one of the seats on the dais Saturday afternoon. As the reporters approached the table, greeting the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach and placing the recorders in front of him, Meyer He laughed and said to one of them, “Christmas came early.”
In fact, that’s how it was, with the general manager Omar Khan adding three new offensive linemen to the line Meyer among the first five shifts of the club during the 2024 NFL Draftmarking the first time the Steelers have taken three offensive linemen within the first four rounds in the common draft era (since 1967).
Pittsburgh’s latest draft class is the clearest example of the club’s commitment to building the trenches outward, continuing that effort with an infusion of linemen who, the team hopes, will help set the tone for years to come. .
Troy Fautanu was the first of three offensive linemen selected by Pittsburgh in the first four rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft. ESPN
“I’ve said it from the beginning. The offensive line, the defensive line, those are big priorities, big men,” he said. Khan after selecting the offensive tackle Troy Fautanu ranked No. 20 overall. “That’s where it starts, right? I want us to be a physical football team, and it has to start there.”
It’s also no coincidence that the Steelers’ investment in offensive line has coincided with the addition of Andy Weidlwho joins the team as vice president of personnel since the Philadelphia Eagleswhere he helped build an offensive line that won two league titles. NFC East and the Super Bowl LII.
In addition to recruiting Burialthe Steelers selected center West Virginia, Zach Frazierwith shift No. 51 and the guard Mason McCormick at No. 119. Not only do all three players possess versatility, but they all play their positions with the level of physicality and tenacity that is a trademark of Pittsburgh football.
“His attitude and his style of play,” he shared Meyer about what he attracted to his selected linemen. “I don’t want to say they’re not nice players, that’s all. It’s just that all three of them have those qualities that you really like, especially the Steelers. You talk about those guys who are tough, who love the game, who are fanatical about it. “All three of them are guys that have those kinds of traits that we’ve really looked for here in the last couple of years.”
How the Steelers cut their starting center Mason Cole before the start of free agency, Frazier has the clearest path to ownership, but Burial will likely compete for a starting tackle job, either supplanting Dan Moore Jr. on the left, or sending him to the right side, if the team moves its 2023 first-round pick, Broderick Jonesto the opposite flank.
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In their collegiate careers, Frazier started 45 matches, while Burial started 31. That experience was attractive to the Steelers in the evaluation process.
“We are looking for talented kids, obviously,” he said. Tomlin. “Oftentimes, that talent comes with experience. It’s nice to have a group that is as mature as players and people, and I think that’s a reflection of the collective. All of that means that we expect those kids to have a high floor and, perhaps, have a good presentation of what they are capable of starting, and for that reason, we are excited.
McCormicka four-year starter at South Dakota Stateprojects as a backup guard for now, with the team returning to starting guards James Daniels e Isaac Seumalo. But, so much Daniels as Moore They are scheduled to become free agents after the 2024 season.
“It was a strong offensive line group,” he admitted. Tomlin. “We’ve talked on multiple occasions about how we feel about the importance of the offensive line, and we went through the first day … and even in the fourth round, when we had the opportunity to go for Mason McCormick, he’s a guy we had rated very highly there, and we have a couple of players in the position who are in the last year of their contracts, we felt it was important to take care of that if he was there. And, we did.”
Even if the three rookies don’t start right away, the trio is expected to fit in. Joneswho replaced Chukwuma Okorafor in the starting lineup mid-season in 2023, and with Seumalo, to form an offensive line nucleus. The Steelers also have 2023 seventh-round pick Spencer Andersonwho spent the season on the 53-man roster, and appeared in eight regular-season games on special teams.
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From that group, Seumalo He is the oldest and most experienced, by a wide margin. At 30 years of age and with nine campaigns of experience NFL piggyback, Seumalo is eight years older than Jones y Frazierand seven years more than Burial, McCormick y Anderson.
Although he is typically quiet, Seumalo has a reputation for bonding with younger players. Seumalo knowledge a Burial on his official pre-draft visit, and was among the first to contact him after his first-round selection last Thursday night.
Even with the pains that come with growing up that will inevitably come with young offensive linemen adjusting to the NFLthere is some benefit to having a young group get together, especially with a mentor in Seumalo who was part of the squad Super Bowl LII of the Eagles.
“I think the pieces are there to have a good core of players for the long term, and I think on the offensive line, it’s important to create chemistry with the guys next to you,” he noted. Frazier. “That’s how we did it in West Virginia. We had the same group of kids for basically three years, and by my senior campaign last year, we were pretty close and knew what each other was thinking.”
The Steelers have had mixed results fielding young linemen. From 2009 to 2012, the Steelers added three offensive linemen who were mainstays for a decade, and they ended up starting 69 of a possible 115 games for the Steelers. Ramon Foster He joined the club as an undrafted free agent in 2009, and became a full-time starter in 2011. In 2010 and 2011, the Steelers invested first-round picks on two offensive linemen: center Maurkice Pouncey and the guard David DeCastro. Each earned two first-team All-Pro mentions, while Pouncey He was voted to the Pro Bowl nine times, six of them. DeCastro.
From 2016 to 2020, the offensive combination of Foster, Pouncey, DeCastro, Alejandro Villanueva y Matt Feiler They started 21 games together, tying the fourth-most for any group of five in that span. Foster He retired at the end of the 2019 campaign, and Pouncey y DeCastro They were able to end their careers a year later.
Finding the next group of offensive linemen to replace them proved to be as challenging as finding the next franchise quarterback. Steelers tried to address the line in 2020 with fourth-round pick Kevin Dotsonand added to Kendrick Green y Moore a year later in the second and third rounds, respectively. But, after the failed step of Green as a center and the inconsistency of Dotsonboth were traded last fall, leaving Moore as the last man standing, as he enters the final year of his contract. In that span, the Steelers also went through two offensive line coaches in Shaun Sarrett y Adrian Klemm.
But since they hired Meyer In 2022, the Steelers’ offensive line has shown improvement. The club’s block win rates increased significantly from 2021 to 2022, with the block win rate for pass plays increasing from 49 percent (No. 31) to 65 percent (No. 7) and the block wins for running plays from 67 percent (No. 30) to 72 percent (No. 15). The 2023 numbers fell to 58 percent (No. 17) and 71 percent (No. 11), but were still better than 2021.
With the hiring of the offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, the Steelers want even more improvement on the line this year by implementing an offense that shines brightest when built around a solid running game. And by continuing to invest so much in the position, they are on track to do just that.
Information from ESPN Stats & Information was used in the writing of this note.
2024-05-02 21:39:16
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