LATROBE, Pa. -- There was an awful lot of good for the Steelers that came out of Saturday’s 32-25 preseason victory over the Seahawks at Acrisure Stadium. It was about as entertaining, exciting, and encouraging of a preseason game as you will see in this league, with five true NFL caliber quarterbacks taking every snap of the contest.
But just in terms of talent and ability, the offensive line is the weakest position group on this roster.
How did the top guys from that unit play against the Seahawks?
Kevin Dotson has been battling Kendrick Green for the starting left guard spot, but Dotson didn’t play in this game. That left the Steelers' starting offensive line from left to right as Dan Moore, Green, Mason Cole, James Daniels, and Chukwuma Okorafor against a Seattle defensive front that is amongst the worst in the league when playing all their starters.
Moore and Green each played 35 snaps against the Seahawks, while the other starting offensive linemen were pulled after 16 snaps. So, this is not a huge sample size to judge this unit and we should expect some issues with continuity this early.
The tackles, Moore and Okorafor, had the best outings of the starting five. Moore’s run blocking stood out in a positive manner. On the other hand, Daniels and Green’s pass protection really stood out in a negative light.
A recurring problem with Green is that his lack of arm length is being used against him. On the first play of the Steelers' second drive, Seattle’s defensive tackle is quick to get his hands into Green and drives the Steelers left guard backwards into the quarterback:
On this second-and-eight play nine minutes into the first quarter, Daniels simply misses an assignment. He chases the defensive tackle across a gap who isn’t his responsibility and then allows the standup edge defender to come clean at Mitch Trubisky, who does a very nice job of eluding the rusher and picks up four yards with his legs on a busted play.
Such mental errors are likely to get cleaned up, but Daniels has not been impressive yet in a Steelers uniform, which is very shocking. His technique in pass protection was particularly worrisome in this game.
The Steelers' depth linemen didn’t play poorly overall, but the three who stood out in a positive way were Joe Haeg, John Leglue, and J.C. Hassenauer. And in a negative way it was Trent Scott and Chaz Green, who was especially awful on Saturday night. In terms of snap counts, Haeg played 49 snaps, Leglue 52, and Hassenauer also was on the field for 52 of a possible 68 offensive snaps. Scott played 36 and Green played 33 snaps.
As for the Steelers' opponent, it must be noted that Boye Mafe, the 40th pick overall in this past draft, was tremendous in this game and could be primed for an excellent career. He played 44 snaps and influenced this game from start to finish. Myles Adams played 41 snaps and gave the Steelers trouble in passing situations. Poona Ford played a strong game for the 21 snaps in which he was involved.
Next week, the Steelers travel to Jacksonville. The Jaguars should present an excellent opportunity to further evaluate this offensive line.
The Jaguars are a rebuilding team that should pretty much play all their top guys. Their defensive front -- including the linebackers -- is very big and physical. They have two exceptional athletes in 2019 first-round pick Josh Allen and the first overall pick in the 2022 draft, Travon Walker, who they will align all over the defensive line.
But no matter how that game goes, the Steelers' front office would be wise to keep their eyes peeled for any available offensive linemen from outside the organization. Matt Canada’s scheme, a mobile quarterback and the Steelers' wealth of skill position players should help the line all year.
Nonetheless, this group is below the bar as it stands right now with plenty of room for improvement.
