The Steelers bet on the youth movement in their offensive line with two middle round picks on Kendrick Green at center and Dan Moore Jr. at tackle. Moore became the unexpected starter at left tackle when Zach Banner's return took longer than expected, but Green was the plan at center after the Steelers saw in-person what he could be in spring practices, mini-camp and training camp.
It wasn't a perfect situation, as Green was a guard for most of his college career and had plenty of polish to put into his game. From his draft tape, it was obvious Green's strengths were steeped in his athleticism to pull and hit in space as well as his lower body strength to move players. But since then we've looked at the Steelers' offensive line through several Carter's Classrooms, from the start of training camp, to the final preseason games, and the first few regular season games, we've taken several looks at their struggles and progress as a group.
But now, it's time to take a look at the steps Green has taken to improve his own game. We've noted in past film reviews how Green has been more than willing to be physical in the Steelers' early games, and how that willingness was coupled with uncertainty of how to handle various situations and win leverage battles with defenders lined up over top of him. Young NFL centers have a lot of responsibilities to accept that include not just improving personal technique, but also understanding how the centerpiece of the offensive line intertwines with their four fellow starters.
Learning how to work in unison with the rest of the line is one aspect of Green's game that's grown. Against the Seahawks, the Steelers' offensive line worked to collapse the Seahawks defense to give Najee Harris clearer reads on his inside runs. Watch this play with Harris where Green, Trai Turner, Chukwuma Okorafor and even Zach Gentry collapse their assignments down the line. Green doubles down with Kevin Dotson in the middle of the line, setting the tone for the rest of the line:
Green wasn't asked to do a lot on that play, but the fact that he did it the right way shows progress.
Mike Tomlin, Matt Canada and Adrian Klemm have all described the Steelers' offensive line struggles as "popcorn" since the season began as an expression of the group's inconsistency. Several run plays for Harris would be one step from breaking loose for a big gain, but fall apart in the end because one lineman missed their assignment or didn't apply the correct leverage to maintain their gap. More than a few of those missed assignments came from Green, whether it was him not anticipating where a defensive lineman would attack or just missing on the leverage he was supposed to establish at the point of attack.
A big factor that's helped him improve has been winning those leverage battles, and the biggest contribution to that has been Green's improved hand usage. Watch how even though he doesn't drive his man off the ball, he is able to seal him to the left side of the line for Harris to run right behind Green. That battle he won in the hole started with Green putting his hands inside the frame of his opponent to establish the proper leverage:
Sometimes being physical as offensive linemen doesn't mean driving a player off the ball and is all about simply turning your man in the right direction to protect your gap.
At least against the Seahawks, the Steelers started trusting Green to win those assignments more and run Harris behind the gaps he sealed. The Seahawks even tried to line larger defensive linemen overtop of Green like 310 lbs. defensive tackle Poona Ford. Green struggled the most in the Steelers' early games when defensive tackles were lined up on top of him to challenge his hands as soon as the ball was snapped.
But look at how Green engaged with Ford when he had the chance to seal him out of the hole the Steelers needed Harris to attack. Even though Green doesn't move Ford, look where his hands go to seal him out of the hole long enough for Harris to spurt through the hole:
But make no mistake, Green does more than seal players out of the hole.
Being physical and moving opponents is what the Steelers want of their offensive linemen. Klemm, Dotson, and company talked about it throughout the offseason and how that would be different from what was asked of the offensive line last year that focused more on sealing opponents and less on driving them out of the hole to provide more chances in the run game.
Here's an example of when Green did drive his opponent, and again, it all starts with his hands. Look how quickly his hands attacked his opponents' shoulder pads. His hands got inside of his man's frame, and the leg drive that has always been there for Green helped him finish the play:
That strike with his hands and drive with his legs stems from the confidence from Green's play within the Steelers' offense.
It's not enough for offensive linemen to know what a given play that's called by Ben Roethlisberger is supposed to do, because they also have to account for the various defensive fronts will counter those plays. Defensive lines not only line up in different spots, but take different angles, use stunts, twists and misdirection to confuse offensive linemen. That makes up a lot of the film work linemen use to prepare each week so that they're able to be aggressive in their play. The less they have to think about their play, the harder they can attack their assignments and drive players like Green did in the above play.
But that preparation also helps make pass protection more seamless for Roethlisberger, and that's also taken steps forward for the Steelers. Per Pro Football Focus, their first three games, the Steelers averaged giving up nine pressures per game. But in their most recent three, the Steelers average allowing Roethlisberger to be pressured 4.3 times per game, cutting the rate from their first three games by more than half.
A big part of that has been how much more composed Green and the offensive line has been taking on the alignments, stunts and twists coming from defensive fronts. Watch how ready Green looked for the the Seahawks' pass rush on this play, with a defensive tackle lined up over his left shoulder with a safety creeping right behind him and the next closest down lineman was two gaps to his right. But on the snap of the ball, Green is prepared for the lineman further away to crash into his gap and doesn't even flinch at the lineman to his left:
That's another example of playing with less hesitation to make plays in the moment.
While Green does make sure his hands hit in the right spot, he failed to bring his feet with him on the block to follow through and finish the play. But he did his job enough to maintain the pocket for Roethlisberger to find Eric Ebron for a third down conversion. It's an example of Green's growth, but also of how much he still needs to improve.
But there's no doubt he's made strides in his game. It's started with his hands, but watch in the coming weeks to see what else he can incorporate into his regular fundamentals.