What is it with the Pittsburgh Steelers and their offensive line? If they're not getting beaten along the line of scrimmage, they're getting beaten-up by countless injuries.
The latest rash of injuries occurred in Sunday Night's game in Indianapolis. Left tackle Jonathon Scott, right guard Doug Legursky, and rookie right tackle Marcus Gilbert all suffered injuries during the contest with Scott's ailment appearing to be the most serious. It remains to be seen who will play where on the offensive line this coming Sunday in Houston against the Texans, but you can almost count on the Steelers having their fourth-straight offensive line combination in as many games.
After week one in Baltimore, right tackle Willie Colon was lost for the season with a torn triceps and replaced by Gilbert. Starting left guard Chris Kemoeatu missed the week two game against Seattle and was replaced by Ramon Foster. Kemoeatu was back in the lineup this past Sunday night but was only one of two members of the unit that managed to survive the entire game.
The Steelers offensive line has come under much scrutiny since probably around 2008--the team's first year without all-pro left guard Alan Faneca, who left the team as a free agent following the 2007 season.
Since 2008, the Steelers have tried to patch-together an offensive line with mostly lower-round picks and undrafted free agents. The organization's success in that regard has been a mixed bag, to say the least. Getting beaten along the line of scrimmage like they were on Sunday Night by Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis has been a common theme for the unit in recent years.
For three-straight NFL Drafts starting in 2007, I had a stud offensive lineman at the top of my fan wish-list, but there just never seemed to be a first round worthy player available when the Steelers were on the clock.
Besides, the team needed to address other areas than just the offensive line, and a team can't address all the positions at once. It's hard to argue with the selections of Lawrence Timmons, Lamarr Woodley, Rashard Mendenhall, Ziggy Hood, and Mike Wallace. But, sooner or later, the offensive line problem had to be addressed. I mean, if you have a franchise quarterback like Ben Roethlisberger being chased around by elite pass-rushers like Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata, Dwight Freeney, and Robert Mathis, you can't entrust fringe starters with the responsibility of keeping him upright and healthy, at least not for the long-haul. And if you have as many offensive weapons as the Pittsburgh Steelers seem to possess, eventually, you're going to want to fire those weapons and get as much bang for your buck.
That's hard to do when chemistry and talent is consistently a problem with the guys up front.
And no coach has come under more criticism in recent years than Steelers' offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. But is play-calling to blame, or is it just near-impossible to get any kind of rhythm going on offense when you're losing more battles than you win along the line of scrimmage?
Fortunately, the Steelers have used the past two drafts to try and go about upgrading the talent along the offensive line. In 2010, the team selected center Maurkice Pouncey with their first round selection, and almost immediately, the rookie emerged as the unit's top talent. Pouncey became a pro-bowl player and a leader in his very first season.
And this year, the Steelers used their second-round selection to draft Pouncey's teammate at Florida, offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert.
It remains to be seen if Pouncey and Gilbert have what it takes to consistently deal with the likes of Ngata and Suggs, but at least they possess the kind of high-end talent that has been missing from the Steelers offensive line for many years.
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