Mike Tomlin isn’t ready to sound the alarm despite an offensive issue that could unravel the Steelers’ season before it begins
He’s not worrying yet.
If you watched Saturday night’s game against the Buccaneers, you saw Pittsburgh Steelers running back Kaleb Johnson finally come to life.
The irony in that situation is that he did it behind backups in front of him.
That underscores a growing offenisve issue that could undue the Steelers hopes at success in 2025…
Mike Tomlin not worried despite OL struggles
“I like the overall trajectory of it,” said Coach Tomlin when asked about what he thought about where the OL stands. “But again, as I mentioned, the same discussion with Roman [Wilson], that’s a young collective, you know, a bunch of second-year, third-year types, and so, each and every day, from a developmental standpoint, is critical. And so we got another in-stadium opportunity. We got several more weeks of work and and I expect them to continue to utilize it and continue to evolve individually and collectively.”
The problem with the Steelers’ offensive line right now isn’t their pass protection. In fact, Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu have looked fantastic through their limited reps in the preseason when asked to kick slide.
The problem is going forward. The team can’t block.
The run game has been nonexistent by all accounts when the first team OL is in. On Saturday, every starter outside of Isaac Seumalo played, and it wasn’t until they sat down that Kaleb Johnson started tearing off runs.
The same has been true in camp, in joint practices and through two weeks of preseason. That can’t continue in the regular season. This team can’t win games with Aaron Rodgers dropping back to throw 40 or 50 times a game.
He doesn’t have the volume of pass catchers to do so. It’s why the team has three suitable backs via Kaleb Johnson, Kenny Gainwell and Jaylen Warren.
But if the guys up front can’t block for them, it won’t matter.
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