What a difference a few years can make, as it wasn’t that long ago that entering OTAs and eventually training camp the biggest question for the Pittsburgh Steelers was going to be how the offensive line was going to hold up – and whether or not this might be the year Ben Roethlisberger took enough shots to put him out for an extended period.
Well entering the 2015 season, the Steelers have their franchise quarterback locked up for the rest of his football career, and the offensive line could not only be one of the best units on the team – as well one of the best lines in the entire league.
Yeah, you read that right.
Pittsburgh Steelers Offensive Line Primed For Big Year
After years of investing high draft picks to repair the too-often criticized line, the Steelers finally have the line with the potential to be one of the best in the league – if you didn’t already consider them so.
Continuing to take the proper steps forward, the Steelers finished in the middle of the pack in sacks allowed last season with 33. Not an overly flashy number nor impressive ranking, but considering it is the lowest total that they have allowed in the previous ten years, it’s saying something about the strides they have made.
The key to the resurgence? The easy answer would be to point at the addition of Hall of Famer Mike Munchak as the team’s offensive line coach. Having him take charge has led to each of the starters to take a big advancement in their progression.
But even more so, it was the fact that the group that they invested so much in was actually able to stay on the field together that could have led to their strong play.
Experience will play another factor in what they will be able offer next season, as each of the team’s projected starting offensive lineman have all started in at least 33 games throughout their career – led by Ramon Foster’s 71.
In fact, the average amount of starts the line have combined for is 49, just tad more than three years per player. So with a perfect combination of youthful experience, having seen and done most of what you can expect in a NFL season – they also have enough room to grow to set these lofty expectations.
Ever since the Steelers drafted Maurkice Pouncey in 2010, he has been the guy calling all the shots for the line, and emerged again as one of the best centers in the game after missing all but a few snaps in 2013.
It was a rough start to David DeCastro’s career. After suffering a broken knee cap injury his rookie year, things hit an awkward turn for the worse in 2013, as DeCastro played a key part in one of the more unfortunate freak accidents you will see.
In the season opener, DeCastro attempted to make a cut block on a Tennessee Titan’s defensive lineman, only to whiff on the block and take out Pouncey’s knee – causing him to miss the rest of the season.
But in 2014 the Stanford alumni didn’t let that deter him, as he gradually raised his game to where he was rated by Pro Football Focus as the 18th ranked guard (out of 78 qualifying players) in the entire league last year.
Watch any highlight reel of Le’Veon Bell on youtube, and chances are DeCastro threw a block that helped spring his running back.
While the right side of the line was heavily invested in, the maybe more crucial blind side has maybe been put together by luck than anything. Despite being the smallest left tackle in the league, Kelvin Beachum – a seventh round pick – was rated among the best in the game. Pro Football Focus rated the former SMU Mustang as the fifth ranked tackle in the entire game. His pass protection rated as ‘elite’ helped the Steelers put up the lowest sack allowed total in ten years.
So what is the collective upside of the offensive line? Such a short time ago this was looked at as one of the team’s biggest weakness, but the strides they took last year along with their collective youth has to make you believe that the sky could be the limit for the Steelers’ offensive line.
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