Steelers Scenario Series, Part 1: Best and Worst Cases for the Offensive Line
The 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers roster is an intriguing mix of fresh talent and seasoned veterans on both sides of the ball, and each position group will have it’s own challenges to develop into an efficient, productive squad like the Front Office and Coaching Staff envision them to be. The Steelers don’t do hard resets and they never plan to be bad, and that philosophy brings with it the expectation for each group to provide winning level play every year.
With recent Draft picks looking to find their footing, new Free Agent acquisitions getting acclimated, and familiar faces returning for another year, there’s a lot of variables that play into fielding a winning roster. In this series, we’ll identify the best player, a “lynchpin” player (player who’s success or failure will most heavily impact the group), and a rising star for each position, as well as determine the best- and worst-case scenarios for the 2025 season.
Up first: the Offensive Line
ON THE ROSTER
Centers: Zach Frazier*, Ryan McCollum
Guards: Isaac Seumalo*, Mason McCormick*, Nick Broeker, Steven Jones, Doug Nester, Max Scharping, Aiden Williams
Tackles: Broderick Jones*, Troy Fautanu*, Spencer Anderson, Calvin Anderson, Dylan Cook, Gareth Warren
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Best Player: Zach Frazier
Lynchpin Player(s): Broderick Jones, Troy Fautanu
Rising Star: Zach Frazier
BEST CASE SCENARIO
Pittsburgh’s young, dynamic core hits their stride early in 2025 as guys like Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu step into the roles they were drafted to play. Jones in particular hones the athleticism and power that earned him a 1st Round selection in 2023 and turns into an above average blind side protector with even more upside. Along the interior, Zach Frazier continues his trajectory towards being one of the league’s best Centers, while Isaac Seumalu and Mason McCormick operate as a steady, bulldozing duo on either side of Frazier. At their best, the Steelers OL is a bullying run-blocking unit powering one of the league’s most efficient run games and keeping Aaron Rodgers or Mason Rudolph clean enough to operate the Play Action game and get the ball in the hands of the team’s playmakers in the quick passing game.
WORST CASE SCENARIO
Broderick Jones looks like a fish out of water at LT after the Steelers mishandled his development over his first 2 years, while Fautunu’s injury recovery slows his ability to get up to speed at the NFL level and stay on the field. Isaac Seumalu looks older and slower and Mason McCormick plateaus as a former 4th Rd pick with limited overall athleticism and a low-ceiling style of play. Frazier’s floor is pretty high, but if the uncertainty at QB causes issues with calling protections and snap count/cadence consistency, it could make his job harder and lower his ceiling in Year 2. Mike Tomlin’s decision to retain OL Coach Pat Meyer looks like a really poor decision as things fall apart and he is unable to elevate the production of his young guys up front.
The weight loss for Broderick at least shows that he’s willing to work for it and knows he needed change. I also liked when he tried to get GP under control last season. I think his heart is there. We’ll see how he does. I think how this line does can really propel them to a quicker rebuild or retool, whatever you want to call it. There’s a lot of high draft capital in that line. Pat Meyer worried me if I’m being honest
There’s a lot to like about Broderick Jones.
I know zip about OL technique, Pat Meyer is just a name to me. So, what is Smith’s take, he’s the guy’s boss?
Personally, I think that too much went right for the line last year to call Pat Meyer a problem. Zach Frazier was very good, Isaac Seumalo made the Pro Bowl, Troy Fautanu won the starting LT spot coming out of camp and was looking good before getting hurt, and Mason McCormick played just fine for a 4th round pick. Really, of the entire O Line, only Broderick Jones played poorly. I scratch my head when people say that Pat Meyer is a problem. The guy coached 4 players good but one bad? That doesn’t make sense to me.
Like you, I don’t know jack about grading a line but those that do generally gave the young guys good marks last year….save for Jones of course.
Good points about Meyer
PFF rates them lower half to lower third in several metrics.
The Probowl is a very low bar these days – Tyler Huntley went, and he is a terrible QB.
No doubt. I guess I am saying that bad players generally don’t go to the Pro Bowl even if Huntley is an outlier. If nothing else, Seumalo was almost certainly something better than bad.
Hey, he’s my backup QB to be, JoeB!
When Meyer got here the OL took till around mid season to start to play like group, but finished the season looking pretty solid! I was excited for camp last season, I assumed they’d start where they left off at the end of the season, but no. Injuries, general confusion, whatever the reason, they all seemed to need to relearn everything, and never really looked like the solid foundational building block we were expecting. Meyer is still there, so I expect the same full start over this season. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t expect this OL to hit any kind of cohesive group stride until after the bye.
Good thing for early bye, then.
a true Pittsburgh Steelers fan, since the 70’s the Steelers offensive shuold be better than ever now that everybody is healthy and it’s too bad the N.F.L. preseason isn’t 4 games because almost everybody on the Steelers offensive line is young and need time to work together and I also hope that Broderick Jones get his game together and dominate
Call me a pessimist, but I feel the worst case scenario is more likely to happen then the best case scenario.
Odds? Say -110?