Anybody concerned about the Offensive Line

you have to remember even meyer and the former and new additions on the coaching staff are all new to arthur smiths system. it doesn't happen in a week. the staff has to gel before the players will gel. be patient. this is a work in progress. add rookies and it will take a little more than a week. everybody wants this to work like a veteran super bowl winning team right out of the gate and it just isn't going to happen that fast.

 

I think Rooney and Tomlin realized it’s much harder without a franchise QB. I also think Rooney is tired if the playoff drought and Tomlin is looking to solidify his legacy before he retires in three years.

 

yes - agreed. they figured out what most US KNEW. funny, isn't it?

but I also think Rooney was just too OK with complacency. We underachieved for far too long and Rooney seems to be just fine with it.

here we are - 2024.

 

I did have Tomlin in that statement I made. Only reason my statement was more towards Meyer is due to the fact that is where the misplaced blame goes to. A large majority of it goes to Tomlin.

 

You are forgetting one critical ingredient here; the QB.


Better have one a la Mahomes, Allen or a Burrow. If you don't, better hope many aspects in both the regular season and post season break your doubly in addition to having that aforementioned great Offensive Line + average skill players.


Detroit is a good current example of this. Los Angeles is actually the best example for the Chargers of 2024 are emulating what the Lions did in 2022; fortify the Offensive Line while having your QB find a way to win with middle of the road weapons.

 

AQL, what do you think about Arch Manning, and do you think he's on the Steelers radar?

 

Arch Manning leaving will be either the greatest thing to ever happen to him or the worst thing ever to happen to him. Reason being is that Steve Sarkisian is arguably the best QB Whisperer among College Coaches. What you have seen with Quinn Ewers is mainly thanks to Sark's tutelage. Quinn has never been short on talent, playmaking and potential but for that to be both molded and disciplined into something much more?! That is on Sark.


Now, how Sark plays into all of this is that, no matter how good a QB thinks he is, if not taught the finite of finite details, he will never reach his full potential. The rumors I have heard about Arch possibly leaving Texas is rubbish until proven otherwise. For that matter, if Arch wanted to leave, he would have done so after finding out Quinn was returning to Texas.



Between me and you, I hope that the likes of Fields does work out. If not, I'd target the likes of Jalen Milroe from the University of Alabama for I believe there is a lot of untapped ability there. My biggest prize though still remains Drew Allar should all else fail.

 

He is/was making money. That's the goal of any for-profit business.

 

I appreciate your take on Manning and the QB situation in Texas, and I hope Arch stays put in Texas because Sarkisian is a genius. I think Manning has a higher ceiling than Ewer's, and I can only imagine what Sarkisian can do for his development. Arch has that QB DNA, nobody can deny that

I'd love to see Fields work out for the Steelers too. The guy can run like a deer and looks to have a pretty good arm too, even though he holds on to the ball forever. I think he could potentially be very effective if they use him like Jackson in Baltimore. Should be interesting to see how things play out this year. Personally, I'd rather see Fields in there than Wilson

 

I gotta disagree on Milroe. He's another project that a team will reach on. Highly unlikely he becomes a franchise QB. Of course that's just IMHO.

 

Mind you, when I said I was intrigued with Milroe, my whole point to him being named was told fold;

1. Tom Arth still being here given how he has done wonders for the likes of Justin Herbert and thus far Justin Fields (even though it isn't showing nearly as much)
   
   
   
2. Fields himself good enough to be the bridge QB while Milroe bides his time and learns the game from the sidelines in 2025.

Assuming both happen, doubly so with Arth staying around, by 2026, Milroe can use all he has learned to become the guy. However, this is all speculative and even too optimistic for me. Hell, Arth even staying here isn't guaranteed for special types of Positional Coaches like him often go to the highest bidder. Pittsburgh also still possesses one of the smallest Coaching Staffs in all of football; mainly due to finances. Granted, a larger Coaching Staff does not beget a Super Bowl but how long a Coach stays with a team is very telling.

 

For me, seeing Fields out there over Wilson has nothing to do with Fields being younger but rather the fact that Fields is better equipped to operate Arthur Smith's Offense. Russell Wilson has very seldom played under center; his glory days in Seattle included. He was primarily shotgun for he could operate best from there. Hell, take a look at how the relationship between Payton and Wilson fell apart.


Granted, Sean Payton wants players to run the Offenses he draws up; something I don't have a problem with. However, if a player can play a specific type of way and only that way, that is a cause for concern. When it is the QB, it becomes a recipe for disaster. Russell Wilson's 2023 Campaign highlights this to the tee.

 

Robert Nutting agrees with you 100%. Pirate owner.

 

According to Dulac the plan is to start Fautanu at RT to start the year. Apparently they view him as their second best OL already, and would have started and played him at RT this upcoming preseason game. This would then mean that Jones and Moore would be battling at LT (assumption would be that Jones would win here) and We would have a Jones-Seumalo-XXX-Daniels-Fautanu line to start the year. Then the only thing to sort out is whether or not Frazier or Herbig is the starting C.

If true, it just shows that we can't always base our opinions off of practice and what they are doing at camp. I'd assume that Jones will start at RT while Fautanu is out with injury and will shuffle back to LT at some point to get some more time there.

 

I agree. They should stick with Jones at RT and play Fautanu at LT, since that's where he has ALWAYS played, AND, Moore sucks.

 

I think we had a lot of bad luck in Ben’s last few years. We had three big time players retire due to injury, Decastro, Tuitt and Shazier and a bad trade up for Busch. Then all the oline got old quick and we had no cap space due to kicking the can down the road with Ben. These last few years we rebuilt the team and had some cap space. I think the rebuild will be finished next year. Meaning more so about the growth and development of the young players. Then it all comes down to the QB.

 

I wouldn't consider Dulac a credible source.


Yes, he does have and know people within the Steelers FO but more often than not, his speculation matches the term itself as opposed to the reports he creates coming into fruition.

 

They are not cheap, they are always at or around top of cap level. They reward
high level players.

 

Then what are OTA's and traning camp for? The OL has
to come out faster this year,can't wait 10 weeks in This offense to decide to block.

 

Sorry. I forgot the green font.

 

it would be WONDERFUL for the Steelers IF Fields can pan out. Seems like he has some good intangibles. this will be an interesting year to take it all in.....

 

but not after one preseason game.

 

The 'rookie' version of this OL would be:

Jones- Anderson- Frazier- McCormick- Fautanu

I'm not worried until all 5 of these guys are forced into the lineup. Not necessarily because of them, but because we have had injuries. Now we are very thin at OL.

 

The Rooney's are cheap line get's old. The bargaining agreement gives the players a certain %, that has to be paid. There is no cheap there, its just how you manage it. The bottom line on the rest of the payout is where owners who do not have other sources of revenue may find it more difficult to expand expenditures is other areas. Not all billionaires have the same cash flow as others.

 

One of the guys who travels to many camps was on FOX radio today, cant remember his name, but when they were discussing the reality and potential good/bad of our QB situation, he said those in the organization feel we have our QB for 2025 on the team now. Interesting as neither one is signed after this year, lol. Of course it depends on many factors, but the desire seems to be that one of them makes a career statement. Guess we will see.