Steelers Now
One NFL analyst believes the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line could regress this season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have invested a lot of resources into their offensive line over the past few years. However, one NFL analyst thinks the unit could regress during the 2026 season.
Mike Renner of CBS Sports believes the Steelers’ decisions to move Troy Fautanu from right tackle to left tackle and select Max Iheanachor in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft due to the uncertain future of Broderick Jones are two of the many reasons the offensive line could disappoint this season.
“You have Troy Fautanu, who is flipping from right tackle to left tackle ‘cause Broderick Jones had a spinal fusion [surgery]. You have rookie contract guys at left guard and center,” Renner said. “Even if Zach Frazier’s one of the best centers in the NFL already, there’s a lot of moving parts here, and they could even go down a tier this year into the could get ugly [tier], especially since the first rounders you’ve used on this offensive line, like Broderick Jones, like I said, unlikely to play this year with that spinal fusion. Then Max Iheanachor, everyone knew that he was a project coming in and probably not a guy you wanna start right away. A lot of moving parts for that Steelers offensive line.”
There’s no doubt that the Steelers offensive line could look quite different come Week 1 and may even get off to a slow start. But it’s also difficult to foresee the unit taking a step back.
While Pittsburgh has several new additions, such as Iheanachor, third-round rookie Gennings Dunker and veteran free-agent Brock Hoffman, returning players like Fautanu and Frazier have arguably yet to hit their primes.
The Steelers also have a new offensive line coach in James Campen, who has been getting rave reviews.
“It seems like it’s a pretty clean slate with what Mike McCarthy’s done,” Brian Baldinger said on The Daily Flock podcast. “The offensive line coach is infinitely better than what they had. I think the coaching staff is better than what they had. They have better targets. The offense should be better.”
It may take a little bit of time for all the Steelers’ new pieces to their offensive line room to mesh, but it feels inevitable that the group will eventually establishe itself as one of the best in the league.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Could Steelers Young Offensive Line Regress in 2026?
