Steelers Offensive Line Ranked in Bottom Half of NFL
The Pittsburgh Steelers are reshaping their offensive line after years of success. But as they begin a new journey, with new names, there are going to be questions.
Not everyone is as confident as Mike Tomlin in the Steelers' front five. Pro Football Focus ranked Pittsburgh's line 17th in the NFL, the third-best in the AFC North.
"The Steelers’ offensive line has been an interesting case this season," PFF writes. "Going purely off pressure rate allowed, they’ve been the best pass-protecting unit in the NFL, with Ben Roethlisberger being pressured on a league-low 21% of his dropbacks this season. The important footnote there is that Roethlisberger is also getting rid of the football quicker than any quarterback we’ve charted since 2012 (2.17 seconds on average). The PFF grades are built to factor that in, however, and Pittsburgh’s offensive line still finished the regular season ranked fourth in pass-blocking grade.
"A 31st-ranked run-blocking unit is what drops them to 17th on this list. The only starting offensive lineman with a run-blocking grade north of 60.0 is Alejandro Villanueva at 60.9, and that shows in their rushing success on the year. No team averaged fewer yards per run play (3.6) than the Steelers did this year. It’s a group that could use an injection of youth and talent this offseason."
The Steelers rank one behind the Ravens (16th). The Browns actually lead the list, ranking first. The Bengals rank 30th.
Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
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