Steelers position review – Offensive line
This is Part 8 of our Steelers position review series. If you haven’t read Part 1 – 7, please click the links below.
Steelers position review – Cornerbacks
Steelers position review – Safeties
Steelers position review – Linebackers
Steelers position review – Defensive Line
Steelers position review – Quarterbacks
Steelers position review – Running Backs
Steelers position review – Tight Ends
The next position that we’re going to look at is the offensive line.
Offensive line is the position that I most often see the “experts” list as the Steeler’s greatest need. I don’t agree with that assessment. Frankly, I don’t think the Steelers are very far from having an exceptionally good offensive line.
Let’s take a look at what the Steelers have to work with.
Max Starks was the Steelers’ starting left tackle until he went down with a season-ending injury. Every indication is that Starks will be ready to take back his starting position next year. So the left tackle position gets an immediate upgrade due to Starks’ return. And no draft pick was necessary for the upgrade.
Starks is a good, but not great left tackle. He is big and strong enough to withstand anyone’s bull rush. However, he doesn’t have the swiftest feet in the NFL. So speed rushers like the Cowboys’ DeMarcus Ware tend to beat him routinely.
Anytime a team can get a great left tackle, they should do so. But with the 31st pick in the draft, the Steelers aren’t likely to get anyone better than Starks. So I think that Starks will suffice for now.
Jonathan Scott came over from Buffalo expecting to be a backup with the Steelers. Little did he know that he would be thrust into a starting role when Starks got injured. Scott is never going to be confused with the Cleveland Browns’ LT Joe Thomas, but he did an adequate job as a replacement. The experience that he got starting in 2010, along with the 4 years of experience and 14 starts that he already had under his belt, will make him an even better backup in 2011.
Tony Hills is officially listed as the 3rd string left tackle. Hills was drafted by the Steelers in the 4th round of the 2008 NFL Draft, and he’s been AWOL ever since. Even with all of the injuries that the Steelers had on their offensive line in 2010, Hills only saw action in 4 games. Moreover, he wasn’t even on the active roster for the majority of the games, while undrafted free agents like Ramon Foster saw plenty of action. That fact alone says just about all that needs to be said about Hills. He’s likely seen his final days in a Steelers uniform.
Chris Kemoeatu is the Steelers’ left guard. Kemoeatu is a bit of an enigma. “Kemo” is a massive player who seems to have been born to play guard in the NFL. Physically, Kemoeatu is a stud. Mentally………..well that’s another story. Kemoeatu is prone to making stupid mistakes at the most inopportune times. He can be counted on to get an off-sides penalty or to get flagged for a late hit after the whistle. We can never be sure WHEN he’s going to do it, but when know that at some point during the game, it’s gonna happen.
Physically, Kemoeatu is bigger and stronger than Alan Faneca ever was. But mentally, he’s not even in the same league.
Trai Essex is officially the backup at left guard (and right guard). But each time he’s called into active duty, he seems to play badly. Then he’s replaced by an undrafted free agent (e.g. Ramon Foster, Doug Legursky, etc.).
Essex is valued by the Steelers’ coaching staff because of his “position versatility” (i.e. he can play all of the offensive line positions except center). Unfortunately, he seems to play all of the positions badly. Do you really want to see Essex playing left tackle (even if only for a few plays)? I didn’t think so.
Essex, a former 3rd round draft pick, has spent 6 years with the Steelers, and hasn’t been able to win a starting position in all that time. He’s a free agent this year, and I strongly believe that the Steelers should allow him to continue his career with another team.
Maurkice Pouncey is the Steelers’ starting center. He was All-Pro at his position…….as a rookie. Need I say more? He’s a keeper.
Doug Legursky replaced Pouncey at center during the Super Bowl, and played reasonably well. He’s no Pouncey, but he did a good job on short notice. Moreover, Legursky has also filled in at guard. Legursky is a guy that I trust to come in and fill in when needed.
Ramon Foster manned the right guard position after Trai Essex proved to be incapable of doing so. Foster was an undrafted free agent from Tennessee that the Steelers picked up in 2009. Since he’s been with the team, he’s stepped in for Chris Kemoeatu in 2009 and played well (for an undrafted rookie), then he beat out Trai Essex for the starting right guard position in 2010. Not bad for an undrafted guy. He still has to prove that he has the potential to be a long-term starter, but I definitely like him as a proven backup.
Flozell Adams started at right tackle in 2010. The former All-Pro left tackle from the Dallas Cowboys had to learn a completely new position with the Steelers, and he did it. He made a lot of mental errors early in the season (which was to be expected), but by mid-season, he seemed to have settled in at right tackle. Some might even argue that after Maurkice Pouncey, Adams was the second best offensive lineman for the Steelers in 2010.
Adams is 93 years old, and his career is coming to an end. But he has one more year left on his Steelers contract, and I believe he’s earned the right to stay for that additional year.
Willie Colon is the final (meaningful) offensive lineman for the Steelers. Colon got hurt before the season missed the entire year. Reports say that he is on track to return to the field in 2011.
Before being injured, the Steelers coaches seemed to think that Colon was their best offensive lineman. Unfortunately, Colon is a free agent this year. This will probably be his last opportunity to get a big payday, and so he’ll probably be quite open to the idea of leaving the Steelers. After all, the Steelers are not known for breaking the bank to keep their free agents.
It’s unknown what Colon will do. But if he stays, then I believe that the Steelers offensive line has the potential to be a strength in 2011 (despite what all of the “experts” are saying). In my opinion, the Steelers should move Willie Colon to right guard. Then they’d have a starting lineup of Starks, Kemoeatu, Pouncey, Colon, and Adams. Their primary backups would then be Ramon Foster, Jonathan Scott, and Doug Legursky.
I could definitely live with that group. Moreover, there’s no way that an offensive line made up of those individuals could be considered to be a weakness for the team.
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This was the review I was really wanting to see. I agree with most of it. I believe the OL was improved because of the coaching, number 1. I believe Sean Kugler is a get in your face type of guy and he did that with Scott a few times last year when he blew an assignment. He even benched the guy for a few series. He may need to do that to Kemo at some point next season. I think this line has the ability to be a very good, not great line. I would only spend a #1 pick on the OL if Pouncey was there. Otherwise, draft a OL player in 2,3 or 4. We should always use the best available player theory, and if an OL player is that guy, get him.
1I agree with most of the positional analysis but disagree with the final assessment. In short – I completely agree on the interior positions – Kemo, Pouncey, Legursky, and Foster. Our situation at tackle, however, is far more uncertain. I feel Starks is an average LT rather than a good one but that’s minor. The real problem is that Colon is a FA, Adams has only 1 year left in him, and we have absolutley nothing behind them.
Now, this doesn’t mean we need to spend a 1st round pick on a T. If Colon resigns and we keep Adams (he has a $5 mill price tag), we should be in good shape. If not – we need to pray no one gets hurt. I also don’t believe we can keep both unless Adams accepts a pay cut. Unfortunately, neither we nor the Steelers will know whether we can resign Colon beofre the draft.
As such, I would like them to spend a high pick (1st-3rd) on a talented but raw T prospect that wouldn’t be expected to play this year but who could provide depth and push Starks/Colon or replace Adams…whatever the case may be.
2I personally don’t think losing Colon is a big deal. He gets more penalties than Kemo does when he is healthy and I was never overly excited about his blocking abilities either. However… getting someone to groom under Adams would be a great idea. Cornerback should be the number one priority though in the draft.
3I tend to think the situation at tackle is much more dire than the picture you paint here.
While the Steelers “say” that Starks should be back and at full strength at the beginning of the season, they’ve got to be wary of going into a season with a 300 plus pound, 30 year-old lineman coming off of IR with a bad back. I know I am. It’s certainly possible that Starks back injury won’t lead to another or hurt his play, but it’s also quite possible he could go the way of Marvel Smith.
Unless 2010 rules are in effect, Willie Colon is almost certainly gone. He seems to think that he’s worth serious tackle money and the Steelers – with Woodley, Timmons, Polamalu, and Ike to resign over the next couple of years – will struggle to find space under the cap to pay him. He’s also coming off an ACL tear and while he’ll be more than a year removed from it by the beginning of the season, it’s quite possible that he may struggle with mobility. I don’t think you can count on Colon.
Then you’ve got Flozell Adams who had a good season, but missed a lot of snaps within games due to minor injuries, sickness, and, well, age – he needed to take breaks sometimes. Adams seems pretty indecisive as to whether he’ll return or not, but even if he does he’s a 1-year fix who can probably only be counted on to play 70-80% per game. I’m not sure if you’re Kevin Colbert you can count on him being a steady RT for one more year going into draft day.
And the backups to these players are even scarier. Essex and Jon Scott are unsigned. Essex has shown he’s best as a swing tackle. After being more or less okay for the last few games of the season, Scott may actually get a deal from somebody else. Tony Hills has never shown anything. Chris Scott may be able to play RT, but he’s a 2nd year player coming off the PUP-list with a foot injury and hasn’t even been to an NFL training camp.
In my mind at least, tackle is clearly the weakest position not only on the offense, but on the whole team. At least you have bodies at CB even if Ike is unsigned and a potent pass rush/Polamalu that can help protect them.
4@Mark – I agree with you. I really like what Sean Kugler has done with the offensive line. When I was at training camp last year, I enjoyed watching him teach the offensive linemen. He’s a big, physical guy who looks like he could get out there and play.
Hopefully, he’ll be able to get Kemo to keep his head in the game.
5@John,
I agree that there is a risk that Starks & Colon won’t be 100% after their injuries. I’m assuming that they will be. Hopefully, that proves to be a good assumption.
Losing Colon would definitely change my opinion on the state of the O-line. If he goes, then we may be in trouble. And frankly, I believe there is a good chance that he’ll leave. The reason is that I am suggesting that Colon switch to guard for the sake of the team. But the reality is that for Willie Colon, that would be a bad move. He knows that he can make a LOT more money as a free agent tackle than he can as a guard. He’s not getting any younger, and this may be his last contract, so he wants to get PAID. His only chance of getting the money that he wants is as a free agent tackle (I doubt the Steelers will break the bank for him).
As far as bringing in another tackle, lets not forget that we have Chris Scott waiting in the wings. He was a 5th round draft pick last year. He got injured and never got to play. But he should compete for a spot this year at training camp. So he’s basically a bonus draft pick that the Steelers will have this year.
6@Hutch – Great points! I agree with you completely (See my response to John).
There is no doubt that the lack of a CBA makes this one of the most difficult off-seasons in a long time. Usually, we would already know the free agent situation BEFORE the draft. But this year, it will be a wild card that the team has to deal with.
We just don’t know what Willie Colon, or Ike, or Trai, or any of the other free agents are going to do. So the Steelers are going to have to hedge their bets. If Ike leaves, we are screwed. If Colon leaves, it will hurt, but not as much as losing Ike.
I am making a big assumption about being able to get a decent performance for 1 year out of Flozell. If that doesn’t happen, then it would change my entire opinion on the state of the OL. But even with the questions about Flozell, Colon, and Starks, I am still much more concerned about what will happen at CB. The idea of William Gay and Bryant McFadden as the starting cornerbacks is worse than any nightmare that I could possibly imagine.
BTW, excellent comments. Welcome to the board.
7Unfortunately, as I recall, Scott projects as a guard not a tackle. The cupboard really is bare at the tackle position. That’s what makes it such an uncertain position with your only starting quality players either – coming back from a neck injury, 37 yrs old, or a FA also coming back from an injury.
I think it will be easier to resign Ike than Colon but we just don’t know. At least at CB Gay/McFadden can fill a Nickel spot if Lewis or Butler can show something and become the #2 CB. At tackle, we really have nothing if anything happens to Starks/Adams/Colon.
Overall, both positions need to be addressed. We are not going to get a tackle that can start as a rookie at the 31st slot. We will unlikely get a CB that can start as a rookie at that spot either. I think we need to get both a CB and T that are talented but rough (and hence, won’t be drafted early) and give them a year to mature/learn the system.
My third hope is that we pick up another quality prospect at DE – which we desperately need as you mentioned in your DE article. I still can’t believe we didn’t pick a DE last year (which had a deep DE class) until the 7th round.
8O-Line and CB are 1 & 1A priorities. We were lucky last year that our coaching was much improved; Flozelle played his butt off and Legursky filled in well. J Scott did better than expected, too. However, let’s not kid ourselves, #53 made all of the difference in the world-he is our only blue chipper with a bright future on the O-line. We have to add multiple contributors this draft. If it takes a year or two to get acclimated, we need guys now because our back-ups are NOT future starters. (Legursky may be the exception.) But subtract Flozelle in two years; add in an injury or two and we could be in deep #$@! Missing on (early round) guys like Urbik & Essex and only choosing other O-Line prospects in late rounds (if they make the team, they are back ups at best) has left our cupboard bare of studs on the O-line. I think we could get a starter at OT or OG at 31-it all depends how the draft falls and how the Steelers ‘BAA Board’ looks. My draft hopes are 2-OL; 2- DL; 2 CBs and a TE or K/P (Henery from Nebraska.) We can bring in plenty of FAs for RB & ILB to look at also.
9I get the feeling Colon may go elsewhere. If I recall, he’s apparently asking for much more money than the Steelers are willing to give. Starks is average: coming off of an injury doesn’t help. Pouncey is the man, Kemo is decent but has his issues, Legursky, Scott, and Foster are pretty good back ups, and Flozell is the stop-gap. We need an OT, though I’m not sure we will be able to snag one this year. Not early anyways; the Steelers don’t reach. We need a guard, too. Getting one of those guys will be much easier.
If Colon goes, we’ll need someone to replace Flozell, as Adams is pretty ancient. I’d like to see Starks replaced eventually, though this year there are other fish to fry. If we managed to get a stud LT, Starks could be moved to RT, where he belongs.
10nice write up & i totally agree with everything (except maybe with switching colon to RG but i know that’s a very debatable topic). i whole-heartedly second the motion to send essex packing unless he’s willing to take vet min.
i would add that IF colon leaves through free agency, then it’s very important that the steelers get a G or T early in this draft. problem is, if the NFLPA* and the owners don’t get their heads outta their butts soon, the draft will come before we know the results of free agency and it’s better to be safe than sorry.
11@john. if he’s re-signed which i think he will be, we have a proven solid backup tackle in jonathan scott behind colon/fozell/starks. so even if c. scott ends up becoming a G, we could essentially have decent/avg starters and backups at both LT & RT this year without using a single draft pick on the spot. we only start to run into issues if starks/colon/adams become injury prone this year or if colon leaves.
but i do agree that now is the time to pick some young guy to replace starks or cover our bases in case colon leaves.
12Tim,
I disagree on Scott. The only way J.Scott is a “proven backup” is that, after last season, we have ample “proof” why he’s a back up. I don’t have any problem with him as an emergency backup but, he’s been in the NFL for years and its clear he’s not going to develop into a starting tackle.
That was the thrust of my original comment – we have lots of uncertainty and no depth. Colon won’t be resigned before the draft, Adams will only be around for 1 year, and there are NO potential starters among the backups – that’s a high level of uncertainty at the position. As for injury prone, two are coming back from season ending injuries and one will be 37 – that’s another ample reason to be concerned.
Hence, I feel the tackle position needs to be addressed now – and with a quality prospect, not just a body. While we may be able to get thorugh this year (barring injurines) we could be in very bad shape in 2012 if we fail once again to find a starter-quality T.
13When focusing on the O-line it is obvious we need to expend an early draft choice on improving it for future years if not for 2011. On the other hand, when considering cornerback, defensive line (nose tackle and DEs) and even safety, it is easy to see other areas of substantial immediate and longterm need. The nature of this excellent series breaking down each position gives us the luxury of avoiding the hard choices the team must make on draft day. In view of our success in first round draft picks over the past decade (Pouncey, Hood, Mendenhall, Timmons, Holmes, Miller, Roethlisberger, Polamalu, Simmons (only disappointment but was a SB XL starter), Hampton) which include several pro-bowlers, a superbowl MVP, and two potential HOFers, we should continue to take the best possible players in rounds 1 and 2 except for QB, RB, TE, WR and LB. (Maybe take an LB or WR in round two if exceptional.)
14@jon (sorry for my delayed response)
a proven backup is defined as someone you’re comfortable you can rely to come in and play/start in a pinch due to injuries. j. scott proved himself as a very good backup tackle after starks was out for the season, thus is a proven backup. i agree i don’t want him or expect him to be our long term starter.
part of depth is having good backups (not necessarily starters) behind your starter. if you’re going to define depth as potential starters behind your starters, then NT, C, QB, G, CB, S, and TE are all major points of need as well. as i said in my comment above, i think we need to draft a tackle in this draft for the same reasons you listed but feel you’re selling our tackle backups short.
15Tim,
You make a good point on the definition of a proven backup. I did not mean to imply that all of our backups need to be starter quality. Context is important. There are some positions where (due to quality, age, injuries) we need to find potential starters and others were we just need a “proven backup.”
Of course we don’t need (and couldn’t afford) starter quality backups at QB, TE, or C. We have superb (and young) starters at those positions. We also have one superb safety and one good one but we have age and injury concerns that suggest a need for more quality depth. As such, grabbing a quality safety would be prudent although this is a poor draft for safeties. [as an aside, I think McFadden would probably make a better FS than a CB - but that's a whole other issue]
At guard I don’t think our situation is as dire because it is a less important position and we have young players who have shown some potential (Foster & Legursky).
At CB, T, and D-Line, however, the situation is more dire. Our D-Line is very old and we have only 1 young starter quality back up. At CB, we have only 1 starter quality player and he is a FA. And at T, we have 1 average player, 1 very old player, and 1 FA – 2 of whom are coming back from season ending injuries.
So, context is important. We don’t need starter quality back ups everywhere but we should be looking for them at positions where we have age/quality/injury concerns.
I was having a bit of fun at Scott’s expense but we do see him differently. He has upside in that he can play both tackle positions but I beleive he is below average at both and that he has reached his peak. As such, I have no problem with him filling in for a game or two but I don’t think he does anything for our long term depth at T. Its the same with Gay at CB (I don’t mind him at nickel but I don’t want him starting) or Eason at DE (He’s good as a back up but he’s not Keisal’s eventual replacement).
Overall, I think most of us on this site agree with the overall needs of the Steelers but are working under slightly different assumptions on FA and opinions of exisitng players. I tend to beleive that Ike will be easier to resign than Colon and I don’t feel good about our other tackles, hence, I am more worried about the T position.
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