The O-Line Issue

Banner was an All American in HS, not college. What options do the Steelers have if he doesn't work out?

Man, could have used your blind optimism in the first world war on the front lines.

"They're going to run out of bullets eventually, and think about it, mustard gas is made from mustard, which we put on hot dogs. We'll be fine. "

 

okrafor was an all-american in college as a left tackle. did i say banner was? no.

i believe the NFL outlawed mustard gas a few years back. the only team that used it after that was new england and they were fined for it and maybe lost a 38th draft pick or something like that.

 

My bad, I misread that.

Pretty funny joke, too.

 

moore was pegged as needing some NFL coaching to get to the next level, not unlike many rookies. they also pegged his ceiling as one of the highest of any draft picks coming out this year after said coaching. you can also watch his run blocking in the outside zone scheme and see a guy that is very good at it and can hit multiple targets on the move. 3 years as the top line in the SEC is where he comes from. he is part of that for a reason. maybe not day one but it's not all about this one year.

finney has lost the weight he gained when he left here which is a good sign. he was a very capable backup when he was here before. saw the money out there and went for it only to find out he wasn't happy away from home. if rededicated to where he always wanted to be, it could be a big plus.

footwork and mobility are a big part of the outside zone scheme for tackles.
big bodies inside, especially at guard is part of the zone scheme as well.
center needs a mix of both in this scheme. green fits that bill.
if you look at the players we have, it looks like that is what they have gone after. guys that can fit this new scheme. i don't think the whole process is a finished one yet but it's a start. too much emphasis is being put on this year only. even colbert came out and said we can't put all the pieces in place in one year for this change.

 

Nice post!

 

Too many "ifs" surrounding the OL and hope for the best. Like they say, hope in one hand and sh!t in the other hand and see which one fills up faster.

 

Let's face it the Steelers have put undrafted and unproven offensive lines on the field for years now. We didn't hear this much complaining in the past. We had a franchise qb that was in his prime and didn't worry as much that we were all in at that point. Shouldn't we have wanted it then? AV, feiler, finney, foster, beachum, legursky, hubbard, wallace, valasco, to name a few. Even draft picks were barely can't miss players. Starks, colon, simmons, gilbert, adams, essex. Why does this unit surprise anyone? Why now?

 

Cuz they're running five question marks out in a single season?

 

What if the person can sh!t hope?

 

Or Wishes.

 

Please. That's not true. One's a five time pro bowler. One was our starter until injured. We have seen two others play last year.

 

Five time Pro Bowler who regressed the past four seasons and is coming off of an injury plagued year. He's a question mark in 2021.

For years you could be confident heading into the season in guys like AV, Pounce, DD, Foster...that's not the case with a single OL in 2021.

 

at first you knew nothing about foster, AV, feiler, and it was up in the air about pouncey with his knee and ankle problems to start with and even DD had a knee issue. remember he took pouncey out at first. so no they were just as much question marks as any of these guys. how easily we forget.

 

When is the last time we had question marks about all five OL heading into a season?

I'll hang up and listen.

 

probably 2010- 2015.

 

Dotson isn't a question mark, he will be a solid starter IMO.

 

not a thing the team can do about pouncey retiring. not a thing the team can do about DD's ankle. they couldn't afford a contract for an aging AV. feiler should have been kept in my opinion but not as a guard. but again they like banner and knew for the last couple of years what they had in him and he was destined to be our starting RT. tomlin said as much.

when your line gets old real quick that you have had for several years and you didn't have to worry about it, it's a shock when it all comes tumbling down. they drafted hawkins. they drafted okrafor. they drafted dotson. it's not like they did nothing to prepare. it's not the teams fault that the salary cap went south this year when we needed some replacements but it did and you all act like this was planned or not planned by the team. it is what it is and you better hope these guys can play that they drafted.

if okrafor was that bad don't you think they would have gotten rid of him before this? they did with hawkins. maybe, just maybe they do know a little more about who they brought in then you guys do. maybe they are pretty happy with what they will be fielding this year considering all that went on with the cap. i don't believe they should have paid big money to some of our former linemen that ranked dead last in the league just to make one more year for ben. trying to build for one year never works out. this year they were forced to. many things went against this team all at once last year. this is the start of the future not the end of what was.

 

I’m hoping the O-line is a strength this season.

 

haven't you heard?

Dotson hasn't been working out and is well over 400 lbs. and with all the ribs he's eating today he won't be able to even run anymore.

 

You know what I see in this thread...assumptions. We really don't know what we have on the Oline. The problem with this line may not be ability, but experience. Let's look through what we lost on the oline from last year.

LT - We go from AV to Chuks. While I don't know what Chuks is going to give us, AV was horrible last year. Penalties. Just straight shots to Ben off the line as he is beaten clean. Couldn't win a battle or get push in the running game. Basically if he had not been the starter going into the year, he may not have been the starter. I can't help but wonder if Chuks would have gotten some snaps in his place last year. I just don't see a huge step down in ability. Maybe we will see the lack of experience, but I am not seeing it.

LG - If there was any player on the line I hated it was Feiler. I think he was a pure example of the passive style this line liked to play. AV was passive. Feiler made him look aggressive. He is one player that I think with Dotson being the full time guy we have actually upgraded.

C - So Pouncey was, notice I said was, at one point in his career dominant. I don't know if was playing next to the passive Feiler or next to the hurt DeCastro, but the guy looked horrible last year. Struggled with shot gun snaps and frequently got run over at the line of scrimmage. All that being said, this position will be a downgrade mostly due to experience. Maybe Green is a stud out of the gate, but I doubt it.

RG - From one former All Pro injured guard to another. The only thing DeCastro has over Turner is the known element. He may be a wart, but he was our wart and we knew him well. You knew what you were going to get from DD. Turner we really don't know. If he still the All Pro who has just struggled with injuries or is he washed up.

RT - Banner won the job over our guy from last year. Let's hope that he deserved it and is an upgrade.

Are there any other factors which will work in one way or another for our Oline?

1. New OL coach. Never liked the guy we had in charge after Munchak left. I think he favored the passive fundamentally right guys over the guys who would knock you on your butt even though at times they would make mistakes. The WAY we are going to play is going to change. It could be a major positive.

2. We have an upgrade at the RB position, probably. Look Snell, Connor, etc. were never going to do things on their own. If you watch Harris' tape it happened a couple of times every game it seemed where the Oline blew it, but he still made something happen. The Oline doesn't have to open huge holes, just hole their blocks enough to give him some light. THAT will impact the effectiveness of the Oline, even with pass blocking. We couldn't run, everyone knew it. They almost dared us to run, but we still couldn't do it.

3. Lastly, there is the element of inexperience does NOT equal effectiveness. Chase Claypool had no experience compared to Smith Shuster last year and less than say James Washington, but the reality is the talent rose to the top. Could this line actually have more talent? Maybe?

AV - Undrafted
Feiler - Undrafted
Pouncey - 1st
DeCastro - 1st
Banner/Chuks - 4th/3rd

This year:

Chuks - 3rd
Dotson - 4th
Green - 3rd
Turner - 3rd
Banner - 4th

Now, while this isn't an elite group, it has less "had to earn" their spots type. Scouts thought these guys deserved to be in the NFL.

Much like having a bias doesn't make what you say wrong, having little experience doesn't mean you can't play.

 

I can’t argue with much of that. I don’t think any of the players on the line are horrible individually speaking, and they should all be capable of starting in the league. Some of them may turn out to be very good in fact.

It’s the fact that they are basically building the line from scratch in one offseason with a new coaching staff is the worry. Even if we take a massively rose tinted view of the players and staff you are still virtually guaranteed to have teething issues.

 

It could take weeks for our new OL to gel, in that time we have
to outwork, out strategize play with urgency and passion. I am a half glass full type of
guy. Lets line em up and see what happens? I believe if they play with passion we will be ok. Green will be key
he has to hit the road running, I expect him to be starting week 1, yes he will take his knocks. But
let the chips fall where they may. Play hard and intelligent it will pay dividends.