Tim Benz: Reasons for optimism about Steelers offensive line — beyond the belief that 2021 was as bad as it could get

If there is a reason to predict optimism about the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line in 2022, it can be boiled down to the simple explanation of, “Well, it can’t be any worse than last year. So I guess it has to be better.”

Based on some of the stats from last year, that’s probably true.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats published at ESPN.com, the offensive line was 31st in pass blocking win rate at 49%. It was 30th in run block win rate at 67%. The team was:

• 29th in rush yards per game (93.1)

• 29th in yards per carry (3.8)

• 28th in yards per play (4.8)

• 23rd in total yards per game (315.4)

• 21st in points per game (20.2)

A lot of those numbers were the result of a game plan that was hindered on a weekly basis because a poor offensive line couldn’t generate push in the run game and couldn’t adequately pass protect for 38-year-old quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who could no longer move within (or scramble out of) the pocket.

Only one regular contributor to the offensive line, right guard Trai Turner, has been erased from last year’s roster. Dan Moore and Chuks Okorafor are likely back as the starting tackles. Kendrick Green or Kevin Dotson will start at left guard after Dotson seemed to regress in his second year at the position and Green struggled as a rookie at center. J.C. Hassenauer (center), Joe Haeg (tackle) and John Leglue (guard) are all still in the mix to be primary backups.

So how do things get better? Well, read along with as much optimism or skepticism as you desire.

• Two spots should be improved via free agency: It’s believed that free agent acquisitions Mason Cole and James Daniels will be improvements at center and right guard, respectively.

I buy that.

But as former offensive lineman and current Steelers radio analyst Craig Wolfley pointed out during a recent “Letters from Camp” podcast, both players might be on more of a significant learning curve than we presumed.

Wolfley could only go so far as to say that Daniels is “coming along” and said that a “slow start” is to be expected after switching teams. While giving high praise to Hassenauer, Wolfley said that he could tell Cole is still getting through an adjustment period of learning the terminology of playing the position with a new franchise.

On Tuesday, new offensive line coach Pat Meyer didn’t advance any conversation that Hassenauer could steal Cole’s starting center spot. Of Daniels, Meyer likes the fact that he is young (24 years old) and healthy but also has 48 NFL regular season starts under his belt.

That said, you could tell Meyer is also aware of the adjustment process Daniels is going through.

“He still has a lot to learn. And he is working at it. He is making strides. We all are. Me included. We are making strides slowly. But we have to continue to progress at a quicker pace,” Meyer said.

Moore can see Daniels catching on to the playbook.

“James is a really curious soul,” Moore said of Daniels. “He asks a lot of questions in meetings. Some that I may not even think of. Some that younger guys may be afraid to ask.”

• The line is using more aggressive pass blocking tactics: During minicamp, many of the offensive linemen talked about how Meyer is trying to instill a more assertive approach to pass blocking.

“We’re more in attacking mode than we were in the past,” Dotson said in May. “How we were usually sitting back, we’re more attacking. … We weren’t supposed to be passive anyway. But this is a little more head-on, hands-on type of thing.”

Meyer said the linemen are embracing those concepts and adapting well to them.

“Any time you can be aggressive and make first significant contact, we want to do that,” Meyer said. “Any time we can get on defenders and keep them as far away from the passer as humanly possible, that’s the way I want them to set.”

• If Green wins the left guard job, he’ll be better there than he was at center: Green spent most of his college career at Illinois as a guard. He excelled there. This summer, he has already admitted that he wasn’t wild about playing center last year.

If there is a good player in that All-Big Ten body, it is probably most likely to be seen at his natural position of strength.

• The tackles will be better after all the experience they got in 2021: Okorafor now has 35 starts under his belt. In training camp, he’s not exactly looking like an All-Pro. But he has been going up against an All-Pro a lot of the time in T.J. Watt.

And Moore, who ended up being a surprise starter for most of 2021, appears to have gotten bigger and stronger. He’s gotten downfield to block effectively on the second level a few times as well. Plus, he’s carrying himself with a great deal of confidence and authority around campus.

In the “Letters from Camp” podcast, Wolfley referred to the interior three positions as a “fluid situation,” but he also gushed about the upside he is starting to see from the tackles.

• The quarterbacks will help: While the answer to getting around offensive line deficiencies in 2020 and ‘21 centered on Roethlisberger getting rid of the ball quickly, the increased mobility of all three quarterbacks may allow offensive coordinator Matt Canada to game plan and play call with more variety.

In other words, if a play breaks down, Mitch Trubisky can still scramble for positive yards. Kenny Pickett moves well, too. And while no one will confuse Mason Rudolph with Lamar Jackson, he’s much more mobile than Roethlisberger.

“You definitely want a mobile QB. They can definitely make you right,” Daniels said. “My rookie year (in Chicago), there were multiple times I got beat, and Mitch would scramble for 15-20 yards. … Those are chunk plays. Those destroy defenses.”

As negative as I have been toward the offensive line in recent years, I genuinely think all those reasons for Steelers fans to hold out hope for improvement are legitimate, realistic and attainable.

Even if they all come to fruition, does that turn last year’s trash offensive line into a good one?

No. Unlikely.

But at least this year’s group has the potential to graduate from incapable to almost league average.

And that’s a leap any Steelers fan should accept as a major victory.

Today’s Bella Construction Letters from Camp podcast features a conversation with new Steelers offensive line coach Pat Meyer.

Listen: Tim Benz reports from Steelers training camp