Tim Benz: Growth of Steelers' young O-line is the most under-discussed aspect of 2025 team

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback position has been talked to death.

Don’t expect that to stop anytime soon.

Also, as you may have heard, the Steelers are yet again in search of a No. 2 wide receiver.

And the running back duel between Jaylen Warren and Kaleb Johnson will no doubt be a primary focus of the preseason.

In my opinion, though, the most under-discussed aspect of the Steelers in 2025 so far has been the offensive line.

There are good reasons for that:

1. We already know who the five starters are going to be.

2. No one wants to talk about how bad the unit looked at the end of last year.

The thing is, the offensive line has lots of room for growth. I’m not sure what other position group on the offense does.

The tight ends are roughly the same guys from last year. The receivers have one stud and not much else (again). The running backs are Warren and a rookie version of Najee Harris in Johnson.

And the quarterbacks are as haphazardly thrown together as they were a year ago.

The offensive line, though, has a Pro Bowler in guard Isaac Seumalo. He is joined by two first-round picks (tackles Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu), a second-rounder (center Zach Frazier), and a second-year player (guard Mason McCormick) with 14 starts under his belt — all of whom are on their entry-level contracts.

Aside from Seumalo, the average age of the Steelers starting O-linemen is 23.5 years old.

For as badly as the 2024 season ended, the possibilities for improvement are significant.

“We are not going to run away from it. We are going to run to it. We are excited for that challenge,” McCormick said Wednesday. “We don’t care about the storylines. We are just going to keep attacking and being better than we were the day before.”

So much of that hope is pinned on the premise that struggling 2023 first-rounder Broderick Jones will improve now that he is heading back to his natural left tackle spot after many disappointing games on the right side last year.

“Working on my technique. Being back on the left side, I’m just trying to get back to getting used to everything,” Jones said. “Getting that second-hand nature back with everything going over there. Making sure everything is right in my head — not thinking I’m on the right side.”

Equally as important to the potential rise of the Steelers’ O-line is getting a fully healthy 2025 out of Fautanu. For all the hype about his potential, the Steelers barely got a look at what he could do after logging just 55 snaps in one game.

“I’m going to give it my all,” Fautanu insisted. “You see how the drafts have been going. There has been an emphasis on drafting players up front. It’s important. There is an expectation behind that. They count on us to do our jobs at a high level. … It’s exciting to finally get out there.”

Along the interior, the Steelers may have a better idea of what they are getting. Seumalo may not be great at left guard, but he’s quite good. Meanwhile, McCormick and Frazier flashed real potential even if they ran out of gas toward the end of a long rookie season.

The concept of the “rookie wall” is something McCormick refutes. But he does admit the learning curve was steep in year one.

“There are so many little things we learned from technique to scheme to knowing how to watch players. There are so many things we picked up on. It’s awesome to be able to hit the ground running and build off that,” McCormick said.

Anything people wanted to see out of Warren and Harris in years past, they might now see more frequently from the combination of Warren and Johnson if the run-blocking improves up front.

Furthermore, all the helium given to the Aaron Rodgers situation could vanish if this offensive line can’t protect his 41-year-old body. In the case of Fautanu, specifically, the last guy he was blocking for was the much more mobile Justin Fields.

“I’ve got to block the guy in front of me regardless of who is behind me,” Fautanu said. “I don’t think about that too much, to be honest. It doesn’t matter if he can run a 4.4 or a 6.5.”

Frankly, it may not matter who the QB is in the grand scheme of things, either. Whether it’s Aaron Rodgers or Mason Rudolph, this Steelers team may not be any better than last year’s outfit that collapsed down the stretch.

In fact, this year’s team might end up having a few more losses.

However, an offensive line that can take advantage of its growth potential could go a long way to challenging that theory.