It was a thought unimaginable a few years ago: the Pittsburgh Steelers have a good offensive line.
Some of it has come from investing high draft picks and spending more money at the position, but another part is offensive line coach Mike Munchak’s influence. When all five starters are healthy, of course.
That hasn’t been the case this season.
With Chris Hubbard set to start at right tackle against the New York Jets on Sunday, it means every lineman (save for the injured Cody Wallace) will have seen game action.
It really is a shame that the re-built offensive line is going through this stretch. Not only has the team invested million in re-signing four of the five starters to multi-year deals, but the line is actually a strength when healthy.The days of Darnell Stapleton and Jonathan Scott as starters are long gone.
Really, the war of attrition started when fourth-round pick Jerald Hawkins went on injured reserve in the preseason. Hawkins was expected to make the team and possibly even dress on game days. That injury allowed the Steelers to keep both B.J. Finney and Chris Hubbard, who were likely battling for one spot before Hawkins went down.
Yet despite all the injuries, the offensive line has yet to miss a beat.
Finney had a great first start last Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs at right guard in place of Ramon Foster. The former undrafted practice squad player from Kansas State threw some nice blocks, including a few key ones to spring a couple of Le’Veon Bell big runs.
Foster isn’t listed on the injury report this week, and Finney will return to the bench. Still, it’s encouraging to see a quality backup interior lineman develop after what felt like an eternity of not being able to have quality starters.
Up next is Hubbard.
Hubbard has yet to make a start in the pros, and he very well could have been the odd-man-out if Hawkins was healthy. Hubbard’s brief regular season appearances haven’t been anything to write home about.
But if he manages to put up at least a decent performance against one of the best front-seven units in the NFL, it might be Munchak’s best act yet.
Last year Munchak managed to pull Allejandro Villanueva out of his hat when starting left tackle Kelvin Beachum got hurt. While Villanueva might not be named an All-Pro any time soon, he has still locked down the left tackle spot.
But putting together a quality offensive line even when the injury count is so high that center Maurkice Pouncey has been getting reps as an emergency right tackle? Masterful.
Gone are the days of every offensive line prospect under the sun being projected to go to the Steelers in the first or second round. Now, they just need depth competition.
Credit the Steelers for taking improving that unit seriously and investing in keeping four starters around long-term.
Credit Munchak for the work he’s done in turning talented players like David DeCastro and Marcus Gilbert into possible Pro Bowlers and fringe players like Finney into trustworthy backups.
Now, rest easy about the Steelers finally being strong in the trenches again.
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