Despite ‘Strong Foundation For Future,’ Steelers’ Offensive Line Ranked In Bottom Half Of League

Ahead of the 2024 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line is polarizing in where it ranks relative to the rest of the league. While Pro Football Focus had Pittsburgh’s O-line as the No. 9 unit in the NFL, Warren Sharp and the team at Sharp Football Analysis don’t agree that the line is that good.

Sharp had the line ranked at No. 20, writing that young offensive lines are rarely dominant.

“Votes for the Steelers offensive line ranged from 16th to 27th. The uncertainty is due to the youth movement, as three first- or second-year players are expected to start: Broderick Jones, Troy Fautanu, and Zach Frazier. They set a strong foundation for the future, but a young offensive line is rarely a dominant unit.”

It may take the line some time to get up to speed, especially if the Steelers start two rookies in Fautanu and Frazier. It’s always an adjustment playing on a new offensive line around different guys. We saw James Daniels and Isaac Seumalo, two veteran guards, struggle early as they attempted to get up to speed with Pittsburgh after signing as free agents.

It wouldn’t be remotely surprising if Fautanu and Frazier do have some growing pains in the early going, and that could impact Pittsburgh’s line. But the talent upgrade is enough that the line should be better, and while I don’t think anyone would argue it’s a top-five unit, it could certainly be a top-15 or top-10 group.

It’s tough to do these rankings before training camp because there’s just so much unknown involved, especially with a team like the Steelers who do have so much youth. Pittsburgh is basically going to be ranked depending on what the person ranking them thinks about its young offensive linemen. Even outside of Fautanu and Frazier, Broderick Jones is a little bit of a projection since he’s moving back to his natural left tackle spot after spending most of his rookie season on the right side.

If the line improves from last year as it should though, the Steelers’ offense could be set up for a big year on the ground with Arthur Smith as their offensive coordinator and two talented running backs in Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. A good run game could really set the tone for the offense, which is why the line is going to have to be good. If the line is just average yet again, things are going to be a lot tougher in all facets offensively.

We’ll see how the line looks initially when the Steelers report to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. for training camp in just under two weeks and how the group settles in and grows together.