PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It was an offseason of rebuilding the offensive line. While they didn't do it in the recent draft, they signed a few free agents in March. But the biggest contract was to keep a starter from 2021 and if you don't like it. He doesn't care.
Steelers signed potential new starting center, 26-year-old, former Vikings starter Mason Cole for three-years, $15.75 million along with a new starting guard, 24-year-old James Daniels from the Bears for three-years, $26.5 million. What they did next caused a tremor in the Twitter force. They re-signed 24-year-old right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor for three-years, $29.25 million.
"I don't really care what guys on Twitter have to say," Okorafor said. "It's what my teammates, coach and everyone upstairs think, I could care less what anyone on Twitter or Instagram think, honestly."
The criticism wasn't without warrant. The former third-round pick was ranked 61st in 2021 among NFL tackles by Pro Football Focus. He committed 11 penalties, second-most of any tackle in the league.
Okorafor was penciled in to start at left tackle to begin last season after Alejandro Villanueva signed with Baltimore, but when Zach Banner wasn't able to recover from his ACL tear fast enough to begin the season, Okorafor was back on the right where he's now started 33 of the last 34 games.
He believes he improved as the season progressed. The former Western Michigan tackle says coming into this season, he's taken another step.
"I think every year the goal is to always change something and improve," Okorafor said. "I feel a little bit better than the year before, but I still have a lot of work I have to do to improve."
This season will mark the third different veteran guard he's worked alongside. David DeCastro was a force for most of his career, but in his final season was battling injuries. Trai Turner was with the Steelers for one season and while consistent, is not to the level of a Daniels.
"I like him," Okorafor said of Daniels. "I've been spoiled to have Dave and Trai. Now having James on my side, I can't wait to see how that works."
"He's very good at communicating," Daniels said of Okorafor. "Walk-throughs he's always being super-vocal, super-loud. He's making sure I see this, that I'm in the right spot. This is a new offense for me, he's been very helpful for me to learn the nuances of the offense that you only get if you've played in the offense before."
Whether Twitter, Instagram, media like it, Okorafor believes the likely starting group of Dan Moore, Kevin Dotson, Cole, Daniels and himself will be together for at least the next three seasons. He said it's like when they had Villanueva, DeCastro, Maurkice Pouncey, Ramon Foster and Marcus Gilbert. They built that group and stuck with it. That's the plan now with a new offensive line coach and second-year offensive coordinator.
There's roughly $72 million and a pair of draft picks invested in it. Will they reap dividends starting September 11 in Cincinnati?
