o-line

with seumalo and jones and frazier from the middle out on the left side, we should be OK over there. however we are very young on the right side. frazier of course, mccormick, fautanu. would we be further ahead to start scharping on the left side with fautanu early to bring more of a vet presence to that side and seal the middle up for rodgers? i can see mistakes coming from the right early in the season because of lack of experience. teams may try to exploit that. what will be our best way to approach this? if we had a more mobile QB it would be maybe a different matter but should we be smart about it early on?

 

These players need reps to develop their game. The QB is either gonna take lumps or protect himself with dumps and throwaways.

Come to think of it, that is catchy.... "lumps and dumps"

 

this says a lot about this signing.

https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...A630C6CDCAFF50F37F10A630C6CDCAFF50F&FORM=VIRE

scharping can also play either tackle spot. weidl type of signing. very happy they brought him back.

 

There is still a lot of unknowns, we hope Jones is going to be that guy, but he still has much to show and moving to the left side (his natural) should benefit him. Still something we have yet to experience, Macormick had experience last year and should only improve. The entire unit and the timing, etc. is where the focus will be. How they respond and develop will determine vastly in where this teams goes.

 

The right side was pretty good to me last season. And I believe by mid season the left side will surpass the right.

Therefore I think we need to let them be for the next few years and only get backups.

 

the right side will be a little different this year. i like mccormick but he was making mistakes. now we have two guys that haven't played a full season yet beside each other. jones has a vet to his inside. that is my only concern right now with this unit. growing pains.

 

Agree. Some fans must have been watching different games than me in the last month of the season. McCormick was struggling, and Jones could barely keep his head above water.

 

I don't know about simply starting Scharping because he's a vet. I don't doubt he will be given a shot to outperform McCormick and win the starting job.... but there's no reason to assume he will be a better player just because of his experience. I want whoever is the better player to get the job. If it is Scharping, great. If McCormick, even better (3 years younger).

I am not worried about Frazier at all. He's proven himself to be one of the best centers the league has to offer very early in his career. Seumalo should remain stout. Fautanu has yet to play but is highly regarded (the team viewed him as their best overall lineman before his injury). I'd expect all three of them to play well. The only wild cards are LT and RG. Jones has to up his game and there will be a camp battle for the RG job. I think we will be in a pretty good spot when all things are said and done. I don't expect the unit to be an instant elite unit by any means, but they should start out as fairly average and have a shot at being a top 10 unit by the year's end if all breaks right for us.

 

Mc Cullum was a great backup at center can he play other positions ?

 

Roll with what the team has currently. All those players need reps. Of them, Troy Fautanu is easily among the ones that need it in the worst way. Broderick needs to be way more consistent and the same can be said for Mason McCormick though not nearly as bad.


Personnel changes or not, this Offensive Line will have to take its lumps. Seattle's and New England's Defensive Front Sevens are by no means cakewalks while the New York Jets have easily one of the better front sevens in all of Football. It doesn't stop there either.


Minnesota's front seven is Top 10, Cleveland has upgraded their Front Seven (though it remains to be seen with Mason Graham) and Green Bay possesses arguably a Top 5 to 7 Front Seven.


Other than Cincy who might not have Trey Hendrickson or even their First Round Pick in Shemar Stewart, the first several weeks are brutal. That said, iron sharpens iron. For that matter, as I have said before and will again, Broderick Jones is the X Factor of the 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers if one wants to single out a single player.


If Broderick can perform up to his draft billing, Pittsburgh will be a Playoff Caliber team. If not?! Likely looking at 9-8.

 

blackeyes

 

little faith in the coach
here i draw the line
meijer
mayer
meyer
mire

 

Poet and don't knowit.

 

i did see something in jones last year that i did like. he seemed to take a step up in a leadership role on the field. hopefully he has bought into the getting his body stronger and faster. sounds like he is doing that.

across the board except for seumalo, these guys have mostly missed out on that learning year. they were thrust into a starting role very early. meyer was tasked with a very difficult situation. there really wasn't time to teach these guys during the season. game day reps are different than practice reps and they missed out on a lot of those. just the footwork part is crucial. mostly the reason a lot of rookies don't start immediately. this year should tell more. camp will be huge for this group.

 

almost every team in the LEAGUE has young players in their OL mix

we just don't scheme and coach well

that is how we roll here.

 

Frazier and McCormick were both rookies last year. The rookie wall is real. I expect better in year 2.

 

The Oline is going to be a problem at times particularly in pass protection. Best case scenario they figure it out and improve to become a solid enough unit after the bye

The first few weeks are probably going to be very difficult with lots of plays blown up and balls thrown away but we need to be patient with that group

 

No problem they just need coaching .

 

They need reps in preseason

Not the one or two series and out bs that has caused slow starts year after year

 

fine line. hopefully reps without injuries. we need them together throughout hopefully. i think they can build into a solid unit. i'm also hoping the new rookies fare well. our new small school guys.

 

Agree mostly, but with a QB exception. Can't put Rodgers at risk at his age. Here's my preseason prediction for % of snaps:

Rudolph = 75%
Howard = 15%
Rodgers = 5%

That's roughly two series for Rodgers.

 

As soon as it was official he was a Steeler my friend called me and said there is a guy who will do nothing in pre-season.

I see both sides of it. Get players reps but fear the injury bug.

 

Paramount that the OL plays up starting week one, no redshirt weeks for this group.
OL coach should work them hard to prepare for regular season. No excuses.

 

it's a long season that most on this line haven't experienced before. they need to get ready but 19-20-21-22-23 games is a long way to go and add camp to that and they will be worn out, beat up and fatigued. it's nice to say work them hard all the way through but it's unrealistic.

 

I agree with this. The talent is there. The question mark is coaching IMO.