After losing four offensive line starters to free agency and retirement, the Steelers have a lot of rebuilding to do up front and have made a considerable investment to see change from that group in 2021.
Kendrick Green and Dan Moore Jr. were the third- and fourth-round selections who look to be part of offensive line coach Adrian Klemm's project to make the offense more physical again.
Despite being listed as the team's second center on the recently updated depth chart, Green will be the team's starting center come week one against the Bills in September. Throughout camp he's displayed the athleticism and the understanding of the roles required of an NFL center while looking comfortable in developing the fundamentals of the position after playing most of his collegiate career at Illinois as a guard.
Replacing Maurkice Pouncey is no small task, and maybe replacing a member of the NFL All-2010s team is a bit steep of an assignment from a third round rookie converting to a new position on the line. But Green has remained focus to do just that and has shown the athleticism that drew the Steelers to him.
For one, Green can definitely get up under the pads of defensive linemen and move them. It's the first thing any team needs to see about their offensive line if they want any hope of running the ball or protecting their quarterback(s).
Here's an example of a play where the Steelers only gained minimal yards, but Green locked onto his man, drove him off the ball and made him a non-factor on the running play by Najee Harris. You can see in the guard position to his right, Rashaad Coward doesn't get any push on his man off the line of scrimmage, and that's what blew up the play:
Sometimes you can learn more about players during instances when everything didn't go their way.
But for the Steelers' offense to become the balanced unit they need to be in 2021, the running game does need to take off for several big moments throughout the season. If nothing else, the offensive line with Harris needs to be closer to bring the Steelers' run game from being ranked dead last to being within 5-6 spots of the middle of the NFL.
Part of that is making sure the offensive line can be effective both controlling defenders on the line of scrimmage and off the line of scrimmage. Green flashed that ability to get to the second level with his athleticism.
Watch Green accelerate to that second level to wall off a linebacker away from the play as Harris goes for five yards:
That's a solid approach, with quickness, positioning and hand placement to make sure his assignment was covered.
But that department of getting to the second level of the defense was also one of the biggest points where Green showed he needed to improve. Several times during the game he would get a clean look at a linebacker and take a poor angle to get to his man, failing to wall him off.
Watch how Green missed on his chance to block Leighton Vander Esch at the point of attack. Harris makes it not matter with his talent to extend plays by beating Vander Esch to the sideline and getting the first down, but you can see how Green winning in that spot might've allowed for Harris to do more:
But these are things that are very correctable, especially from a rookie's first preseason game.
Things that aren't correctable involves each player's overall athleticism. That pops off the screen and shows how many different ways a lineman can be used in an offense. The best example came on a screen pass to Diontae Johnson early against the Cowboys last week.
Watch how fast Green got down field and how comfortable Moore Jr. looked blocking in space when he had to lead block for Johnson. While Green could've been more patient, turned to his right and tried to block Micah Parsons, who tackled Johnson, it was still a sold showing for both rookie offensive linemen:
Pouncey used to be able to move like that and hit in space. But that hadn't been a good feature of the offense for years.
But with the youth movement on the offensive line, the Steelers could be in a good place to evaluate this group slower than normal and gleam better approaches to different situations. That will prove crucial to the team's hopes of becoming a real rushing offense.
Running the ball isn't everything though, as the offensive line will have to protect Ben Roethlisberger in the pocket for several games. For Green, the biggest step for this part of his game to be complete is to be able to recognize defenses and call the right protection packages, while also executing those packages and making sure no free rushers hit Roethlisberger.
While Roethlisberger wasn't there to help, Mason Rudolph still showed poise in the pocket throwing to an open Chase Claypool. But look closer at the offensive line on that play, and you can see solid make key blocks in protection around him and even Harris understood where to go for his block to protect the pocket:
If teams blitz Roethlisberger like this throughout the season, this kind of blitz protection could turn from the Steelers' biggest worries into a major asset.
Such improvement would also potentially help Roethlisberger look further downfield and find the team's athletic receivers working for bigger gains. They'll get their next test against the Eagles Thursday night.