Pittsburgh Steelers

We credit Pro Football Focus, Stats LLC and Football Outsiders for OL-performance data.

The offense is playing at a level never seen before in Pittsburgh. With all the attention going to superstar skill players, the quality of the Steelers offensive line has flown somewhat under the radar. It’s sneaky-good.

In 2014, Pittsburgh’s offensive line graded well in all areas, especially pass protection. What had been a young and developing group considered to have potential and not much else has steadily morphed into a Top 10 unit over the last few seasons.

It’s encouraging progress for the front office who built this line with highly touted prospects in the 2010-2012 NFL Drafts. And it appears the team has decided to stand pat on those investments. They were inactive in free agency this offseason on the OL market, and have only drafted one late-round offensive lineman in the last three years.

Projected Starting Lineup:

Kelvin Beachum, LT 6’3″ 303 pounds- A Round 7 pick in 2012, Beachum has 28 consecutive starts since taking over for Mike Adams who was chosen in Round 2 of the same draft, Beachum played every snap last year grading as an excellent pass blocker and positive run blocker after struggling in 12 starts in 2013, at 26 years old if Beachum can replicate the performance – he’ll be a Top-5-range OT in the NFL entering a contract year

Ramon Foster, LG 6’6″ 325 pounds- UDFA in 2009, has been an effective OG for Pittsbugh since 2010, had a bit of a down year in 2014, still just 29 years old, will be given the opportunity to rebound, has typically been an exceptional interior pass blocker, the team will be cultivating back up plans

Maurkice Pouncey, C 6’4″ 304 pounds- A Round 1 pick in 2010, signed a new 5-year deal in 2014, a top-shelf C who grades positively in all areas and excels in run game, can be dominant, a miscreant in real life

David DeCastro, RG 6’5″ 316 pounds- A Round 1 pick in 2012, the team exercised his 5th-year option in the offseason, highly acclaimed coming out of Stanford then suffered a major knee injury as a rookie, he’s come back as a Top 20 OG who grades positively in all areas and has upside in run game, a formidable interior duo with Pouncey that stands to continue getting better

Marcus Gilbert, RT 6’6″ 330 pounds- A Round 2 pick in 2011, signed a 6-year deal prior to the 2014 season after a bit of a down season in 2013, the front office believes in him, was a Top 25 overall OT and a Top 10 RT in 2014, has graded positively in pass and run game since his rookie year

Notes-

This is, almost unexpectedly, a very good unit. Our only concerns are centered around depth. Marshmallow Man, Mike Adams is a player we warned RosterWatch Nation about from the NFL Combine over three years ago. Although, as a bench player – not a second round pick – we do like him more. OG Chris Hubbard is 24 years old with no experience – he was an UDFA 2013. OT Mitchell Van Dyke was a Round 7 pick by the Rams in 2014 with no NFL experience, C Cody Wallace is a career journeyman who has made only 6 starts, but all were w/ the Steelers and he did perform reasonably well. Miles Dieffenbach was an OG/C UDFA in 2014. With all this said about little experienced depth, we do believe the starting five is good enough to survive one major injury and still be solid.

All systems are go for all Steelers fantasy players. This offensive line is especially good in the run game and interior pass protection. We love it for LeVeon Bell, Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and Martavis Bryant.

When he returns from suspension, with LeGarrette Blount out of the picture, and unavailable to get high in the parking lot, Bell (who was always considered a big power-back, himself) will now get all of the goal-line touches and is unlikely to see a reduction in his 23 touches/game in 2014. Already looking like a young Marshall Faulk, Bell forecasts to be a PPR machine and a safe pick at No. 2 even in standard leagues.

At current ADPs, Big Ben is one of our favorite QBs to draft. And while Antonio Brown is the surest fantasy commodity you’ll ever find, it’s Martavis Bryant that intrigues us most. Bryant has AJ Green-like upside. The question is if there are enough targets to go around and how touchdown dependent he’ll be.

Antonio Brown still has untapped potential we’ve yet to witness – and it’s hard for us to see him relinquishing many of his 181 targets from last season. However, with defenses focused on him and Bell- we believe Martavis Bryant will get his share of ripe opportunities – he’ll just have to cash in on them.

Longtime tight end Heath Miller will also continue to be a reasonable and potentially serviceable late-round fantasy option in this high-powered offense.