A Quick Blueprint for Getting Pittsburgh Steelers' Ground Game Back on Track

Football Outsiders ranked the Pittsburgh Steelers rushing offense seventh overall in the league last year, but watching the action on the field made it seem like the Steelers were struggling to make much progress on the ground.

The Steelers were once a ground-and-pound football team that focused on gaining their yards by running the ball more than via the passing game. But the Steelers, just like the NFL, have changed.

While Pittsburgh is now a pass-heavy team, a more efficient running game would not only allow the passing game to be more successful but also help prevent the risk of additional injury to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

So how can the Steelers improve the run in 2012?

The addition of Todd Haley as offensive coordinator could potentially provide a boost. When Haley was with the Kansas City Chiefs, they had the top rushing offense in the league. Of course, when Haley was with the Arizona Cardinals, they were one of the top passing teams.

Haley isn't a "system" coordinator and instead works to his players' strengths, often to remarkable results. The Steelers do have a glut of talent in the passing game, but their roster of running backs is not all that paltry either. Haley could manage to work wonders with both, making the Steelers offense both dominant and well-balanced.

But before a single football can be handed off to Isaac Redman—this year's likely starter with Mendenhall still recovering from a torn ACL—or any of the other Steelers backs, the team needs to address their offensive line problems.

The root of the Steelers' declining effectiveness on the ground can be almost singly pegged to their troubled offensive line. Injuries and poor performance have made the line a source of constant upheaval.

Without consistency on the line, the run game (as well as Roethlisberger's ability to stay upright) suffers. The numbers provided by Football Outsiders are illuminating—they have the 2011 version of the line ranked third overall, with a healthy balance between the backs and the line being responsible for the run game's success.

Looking at those stats and one would think that the problems with the Steelers run game don't have much to do with the offensive line at all.

But there's another set of numbers worth considering. In 2011, the Steelers amassed 4,054 passing yards on 539 attempts, while their opponents had just 2,751 passing yards on 530 attempts. That's a major disparity in yards despite attempts being practically identical.

But in the run game, the Steelers handed it off a whopping 434 times (compared to 299 for their opponents) but netted just 1,903 yards (opponents had 1,597). Though the Steelers were more effective running the ball than the teams they faced, they should have had far more than 1,900 yards on the ground with that many attempts.

With an offensive line that couldn't create reliable running lanes for most of the season, Mendenhall spent a lot of time dancing behind the line and only small gains resulted from it. He rushed for 100 or more yards just twice in 2011, compared to three games in 2010 (plus two more in which he ran for 99 yards).

The Steelers have already made moves to improve the line, by cutting dead-weight guard Chris Kemoeatu, and moving Marcus Gilbert to left tackle. Kemoeatu's spot will likely be filled by Doug Legursky full-time this season (if not by Ramon Foster) but the team needs to make additions at tackle in this year's draft.

Willie Colon may or may not be ready for the start of the season, but age and durability are certainly concerns, and behind him is Jonathan Scott—and he's certainly not worth a starting spot. Jonathan Martin from Stanford, Georgia's Cordy Glenn or Ohio State's Mike Adams need to be high on the Steelers' draft board this year and ideally they'll nab one of the three in the first round and install them into the starting lineup.

That will at least be a good start in improving run blocking and in turn helping the Steelers be more consistent on the ground. No doubt the team will also add another running back, likely in the draft, to add to their current group of Redman, Baron Batch, Jonathan Dwyer and John Clay.

A speedy change-of-pace back is one option, as is a third-down specialist, depending on whether the team chooses to re-sign Mewelde Moore, who is currently a free agent. But again, it doesn't matter much who they add without improvements to the offensive line.

An addition (or two) on O-line in the draft and a clever reorganization of the veterans already on the roster should see the Steelers have greater success on the ground in 2012 than they did in 2011—at least as long as players can stay healthy, that is.

As soon as one of their lower-quality backups come on the field, it might be more of the same. So durability and depth should be their main focus when improving the line via the draft this year.

Offensive line is the well from which successful passing and running games spring.

Thanks to a trio of playmakers and a mobile, sturdy quarterback, the offensive line hasn't been too much of a liability to Pittsburgh's passing, but it's certainly been holding back their ability to run the ball. Fix the line, and more yards on the ground are the guaranteed result.

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