Worried about Oline

Freaking phone.

 

Butler at the Cubs Hall, it used to be the old YMCA now converted to the Boxing gym.

 

Think the Steelers are the only team with OL worries?

BAL has RG problems and their backups have been truly horrid. Bengals are struggling to even put a starting OL together. Both guards have been shaky throughout TC.

Maybe this is all just preseason hand-wringing by media and fans but the Steelers don't seem to be the only team with OL issues.

 

I said this before. IMO the Bengals have the top QB in NFL. I was 100% convinced the Bengals were about to dominate the AFCN for the next 10 years. Started off looking like they were going to do it. If you have a QB with that talent and you are not a force every year you have a bad organization.

 

I'd say Broderick has turnt the corner but he had 2-3 really sloppy reps. He's going to get better as he gets more reps nonetheless.

 

Him keeping his head up has been a struggle; even on the right side. Hopefully with the improved confidence, that habit goes away. Speed rushers can quickly swim around opposing Offensive Lineman who lunge with their heads down.


Will McDonald IV being chief among them ironically.

 

More like an Org. that has little to no idea what they are doing.


I asked Andrew Luck about this and he agreed.

 

Preseason is over for the Young Offensive Line.


Seems to me they have earned a passing grade... from a pass protection perspective. Run blocking?! Suspect at present. Gonna need to do better in that area overall.


Biggest relief should be the continued positive growth from Broderick Jones. His game against Jacksonville remains his best even if there were some miscues from him there. Has gotten better since. Biggest test still comes from his draft classmate Will McDonald and Jermaine Johnson.


Same goes for Troy Fautanu. That said, polish from him wasn't the issue. My bigger concern was how polished he would look after rehabbing his injury from his rookie season. Happy to know the rehab process didn't negatively affect him heading into year two.



Overall?! I give this Offensive Line as a whole a B. Nothing great but not horrific either.

 

I give them a C minus. Average at best.

 

Fair.

 

They haven’t seen real pressure yet

 

True.


Broderick though has done well this preseason; this past game notwithstanding. Tampa Bay may have been some of the best tape he has put on since his Rookie Season.

 

I watched him intently last night and felt that he didn't have a single bad rep. The true test begins week 1 obviously, but I don't think this is a weakness that we all assumed before the pads were put on.

With all of this said, this unit as a whole needs to run block better.

 

Told you !