this is a good point, last years line wore down and got worse as the season progressed. This year the line will get better as the season goes on. Hopefully when we make it to the playoffs they’ll be firing on all cylindersOriginally Posted by pczach
Exactly....It seems like some media pundits think Green is weak because Fletcher Cox got the best of him. Fletcher is an all-pro veteran. It reminds of an episode of Hard Knocks a few years ago where JJ Watt was abusing Brandon Scherff of the Redskins when Scherff was a rookie, and people were saying Scherff is soft and weak because of that. Scherff turned out to be a great guard.
That reminds me of a story.
Back before the 1974 draft, a scout swore by an undersized ILB from Kent State named Jack Lambert. The scout saw Lambert playing football on a parking lot, and afterwards, saw Lambert picking pieces of gravel out of his bloody knees. The scout KNEW that Lambert was a unicorn… and pushed hard for Noll to draft Lambert in R2.
Fast-forward to training camp, where Lambert is doing 1:1 drills with an unheralded, late-round O-lineman. Attempt after attempt led to the same result: Lambert getting abused by the O-lineman. Noll glares at the scout, and tells Joe Greene to get in there and show Lambert how it’s done.
Greene lines up… and gets stalemated by the rookie, unheralded O-lineman. They run the drill again with the same result. Noll turns to the unheralded, late-round pick and asks him his name. To which the rookie answers:
“Mike Webster”
Brandon Scherff once hit a 450ft bomb off of me in high school baseball. I may bring that up after every time someone mentions his name.
Fuck him then. Hopefully you plunked him next at bat.
The “starting” O-line is listed as:
Chukks - Dotson - Green - Turner - Banner
Banner has looked GOOD out there. Moore has moved to RT, because they want him to get familiar with playing either side. Chukks has looked great, but also looked abysmal. If he struggles, I could see Moore taking over.
Green is impressive. Turner will be good in short-distance opportunities; I’m not sure he’ll be great with all of Canada’s movement. The two of them are like opposite sides of a coin. (One’s strength is the other one’s area of concern.)
Dotson is our best O-lineman. Period.
I like that he is getting so many reps and that he appears to have improved his pass sets from what we saw in college. I think there is a good chance that Moore can play some RT if Banner isnt ready to go and it will be good experience going forward. I still think putting him on Ben's blind side as a rookie wont be great, but both he and Green look to be good adds to the O line.
So if we think of 3 draft picks of Dotson, Green, Moore in the past 2 years, its looking like all 3 of them can be part of the starting 5 by next season at the latest. Contrary to the title of this thread, the Offensive line gives me reasons to be optimistic that there will be some good blocking going forward.
Moore will be a starter by year two.
What side? Do they let Banner walk and Moore plays the RT, or do they let Okorafor go and put him at LT? I need a summation!
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Summations should always come with a story.
Lets wait for it. I expect nothing less, but am jones'n for a summation.Summations should always come with a story.
Scenario 1: Chukks has a shaky (up & down) first half of the 2021 season. Moore takes over mid-November.
Scenario 2: Chukks plays pretty well all season, but is allowed to leave via free agency. Since LTs are a hot commodity, Chukks gets way more than he is “worth”. The Steelers go with the younger, cheaper, and better player: Moore. Oh, and the Steelers pick up a R4 comp pick on the process.
SUMMATION:
Banner is the RT. He’s good at that position, and has ingratiated himself with the community. Moore is currently learning to play RT in order to make him a better all-around player… but, eventually, Moore will be our starting LT.
The OT situation is really scary…
I really hope Banner is healthy, because so far Moore is a much better LT than RT.
I read that Banner didn’t practice, but Chuks was on the right and Moore was on the left. It looks like they’re trying to figure out the best configuration if Banner can’t play week one.
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Young, inexperienced OL that hasn't played together as a unit in an actual game yet, and only a handful of starts amongst them. What's there to be nervous about?
Steelers Insider Has Troubling Comment On Offensive Line
https://thespun.com/more/top-stories...offensive-line
Fillipponi is almost always wrong.
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Well, he “hasn’t talked to anyone in the Steelers Org that thinks it will be good . . .” I read that as either he didn’t talk to anyone, or didn’t ask about the OL haha.
Bingo!!!
Andrew Fillippponi is Simone from Ferris Beuller.
I think his premise in comparing it to last year’s line is wrong.
Given AV’s struggle in the run game and overall diminishing skills, LT could be an upgrade this year, possibly a slight downgrade, but most likely a wash.
Dotson is an absolute upgrade.
Anyone we play at center is an upgrade given Pouncey’s diminished skills last year.
Turner is almost definitely an upgrade to a non-healthy DeCastro.
RT we can call a wash. Maybe an upgrade if Banner is healthy
So I’m not saying we’ll have a top 5 Oline or anything. It’s mostly unknown how well these guys will play together. But overall I think it’s totally irresponsible to imply that this year’s line will be objectively worse than last year’s.
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Well I haven’t talked to anyone in the Steelers organization that thinks it will be bad.
My statement is equally true.
@HollywoodSteel
100%
Even if every other O-line position is a wash (and I think most will be a slight upgrade at the minimum), Dotson starting is a HUGE upgrade. That alone translates into an improved O-line.
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They seem to be a bunch of young guys that have a lot confidence with a coach that’s teaching them to be nasty. I’m look forward to see them succeed.
Talent-wise maybe a small upgrade. Mentally, do they have it where it counts at the young age or are we looking at the improved o-line come 2022?
This is where I am at.
Every changes they made had to happen. Tread water in 2021 and 2022 see a step forward.
Thanks for letting me know its the pony-dung-express writing another baseless article, so I dont click on it. That guy is pretty much Matthew Marczi with a twitter following.
The O line is going to be fine. As long as it stays healthy. IMO.
I actually almost posted a similar analogy.
Fillipponi is essentially Mark Madden sans the vitriol… and diabetes.
Looks like the opening day lineup is:
Moore - Dotson - Green - Turner - Chukks
The question becomes: when Banner returns, what happens to Chukks? Honestly, I think Moore just seized the starting LT spot… and won’t let go (for a decade).
I hope Moore will seize the LT position and own it for a long time .......but more than just a hope, I also tend to think that it will actually happen. He looked good in pre-season play, and just physically he looks like he is in such good shape for an O-lineman.
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