The Pittsburgh Steelers took a big step into ensuring the future of their offensive line after making center Maurkice Pouncey the highest paid center in the league. By the tune of a 5-year, $44 million deal with a $13 million signing bonus, the 24-year old surpassed Alex Mack of the Cleveland Browns as the top paid center.
Throughout the offseason there has been a lot of debate on whether or not the Steelers should give Pouncey an extension, especially with him coming off ACL surgery. There was little doubting how much the Steelers’ organization valued Pouncey, as Kevin Colbert had this to say on his center,
“He has been our anchor of our offensive line since he was drafted in 2010, and we are thrilled he will be with us for many years to come.”
No hiding how they feel about them as a player, but did they jump the gun on giving out such a big extension?
Because of last year’s injury, Pouncey may have gotten an unnecessary label as being ‘injury prone’ when fact he really hasn’t been. (SIA Profile) Other than last season, Pouncey had only missed three regular season games due to injury. He also missed the Super Bowl against the Green Bay Packers after suffering a high ankle sprain in the AFC Championship game (he did his best to play despite the 4-6 recovery time given).
Pouncey was given the starting reigns the day he walked into training camp his rookie year, and never looked back helping Pittsburgh climb its way back towards the top of the rushing chart. After finishing with the 19th best running game in 2009, Pouncey helped them move up eight spots and add five more touchdowns (15-up from 10).
But outside of that one season, his lone healthy one, has he really helped improve the offensive line? In the 19-games (counting the Tennessee Titans game that he left with the ACL injury) that Pouncey has missed, the Steelers offense has ran the ball 466-times for a total of 1,798-yards (3.85 AVG). In the games that he has played, the Steelers running game have averaged 3.97 yards-per-carry with 1,245-carries for 4,949-yards.
The passing game shows against his favor, as in the games he has played the Steelers average allowing 3.3-sacks/game to 2.5-in the games that he has missed. Obviously the sample size (19-games without to 35-games with) can help skew the numbers one way to another, but it does give some interesting numbers none the less.
All though he has unfairly received the ‘injury prone’ tag by some, at 24-years old he is still too young and inexperienced to be considered the best center in football. He has certainly shown he can be, and the Steelers are going to the bank that he is going to be, paying him accordingly.
You can almost blame the Jacksonville Jaguars for putting so much value on Mack when they signed him to that huge offer sheet only to be matched by the Browns. The Steelers feel like they have the best center in the league, even if Mack has more of a case to be called so right now.
Behind the quarterback, an elite center is the second best weapon an offense can have. It effects the running and passing game. Having a player like Pouncey who can command the blocking assignments himself allows the quarterback to worry about finding the open receiver. With Pouncey and Ben Roethlisberger back together, the new high-tempo Steelers offense looks even more dangerous.
For more on sports injuries, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on twitter @AMurphyTRT. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Football fans…check out our two partnered NFL podcasts – Thursday Night Tailgate Radio and Overtime Ireland. Both shows bring you interesting commentary, critical analysis and fantastic guests including former and current NFL players, coaches and personalities.
Main Photo:
