Pittsburgh Steeler Offensive Line Grades? A Cry for Help

There are guys who look good, whose names are respected, and who have fine reputations. These are the intangibles that most fans think of when deciding what players they admire.

Then there are the scouts. They have statistics that most fans can't find anywhere and truly tell the real story. When making transactions teams don't ask the fans for advice, and fans hope that their teams scouts know what the hell they're doing.

The Offensive Line is one of the hardest areas for the average fan to evaluate. First of all the camera follows the ball and rarely do the fans concentrate on the lineman unless they are pointed out on replay.

Secondly, there are fans that don't understand how important OL's are

Draft an offensive lineman in the draft?

"Hell no, that's boring".

"We can get those Offensive Line guys later in the draft"

"We want a playmaker"

For years the Pittsburgh Steelers had a great Line made up of mostly first day picks. Names like Alan Faneca, Kendall Simmons, Marvel Smith, and Jeff Hartings.

Now, well, they don't have much.

The Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line breakdown is as follows:

Among the 32 teams in the NFL, their Offensive ranked No. 26 in run blocking and No. 17 in pass blocking. Compare that to the offensive lines in their division:

Baltimore ranked No. 6 and No. 2.

Cincinnati ranked No. 8 and No. 6.

And even Cleveland ranked No. 9 and No. 11.

For the Steelers to get back to the playoffs, they have to do a lot better

I will admit though, the below Stats are quite eye openers. I warn you ahead of time.

We start with Willie Colon at right tackle. He's the good news and that's putting it mildly. He graded out as the third best offensive tackle in the NFL. Colon ranked No. 1 as a pass blocker followed by Joe Thomas and Jake Long. As a run blocker, he was average.

While Colon was charged with giving up six QB sacks last year, he was on the field for over 1,000 snaps. That's far above the league average. He also had Big Ben rolling out just behind him, which made holding his blocks even tougher. As mentioned, his Run Blocking was average which means for a Steeler OL, he was excellent

In contrast, we have Max Starks on the left side. He gave up nine sacks, but think about it. With Ben rolling to his right, a defensive right end has to run around Starks massive frame and then completely cross the field to even reach the quarterback. He was also among the leaders in holding penalties which cost this team additional yardage. His run blocking was not much better. His ranking among OT's in the league? No. 25.

The real problems came inside

Justin Hartwig was ranked dead last, No. 32 overall of all starting centers in the league. He was equally bad in both categories, ranking No. 30 in run blocking and No. 31 in pass blocking. He also gave up more sacks then their two guards combined.

You thought Sean Mahan was bad? Hartwig might be bigger and stronger to the naked eye, but that's where it ends.

At Left Guard we have Chris Kemoeatu who overall got a league ranking of No. 50. Although having great strength, he was among the worst run blocking guards in the league. Pass blocking? He gave up four QB sacks. Despite his size he's always been better in pass protection than run blocking

Then we have Trai Essex at right guard. Talk about extremes. He graded out as the worst overall starting OG in the league at No. 64. He was horrible in every category from Run Blocking to penalties but surprising was only charged giving up only one sack. That was surprising because he was dead last in QB Pressures.

When Ben managed to get rid of the ball on his way down to the ground, it was mostly Essex that got off the hook.

Ramon Foster?

Believe me you don't want to know where he ranked even as a backup.

So what do we know?

Hartwig and Essex ranked dead last in the NFL at their respected positions.

Kemo is a better pass blocker than he is a run blocker.

Starks is a bit of a joke at left tackle. 

And Willie Colon is a hell of a lot better than any Steelers fan can imagine.

So next time a fan suggests getting a stud like Maurkice Pouncey in round one, don't be so quick to say he's a "reach."

The real "reaches" are the Steelers starters at both center and guard.

The irony here is that Big Ben can't wait until the season starts to get his mind off of what is happening to presently in the off season. If he thinks there is solice on the field, looking at these alarming numbers might make this an after thought.