PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Steelers GM Kevin Colbert says there is not an area on this team that lacks depth. What they do lack are proven abilities. Meaning they feel like they have a good offensive line even if there are only 118 NFL starts among them, 89 of which made by Trai Turner, a member of the Steelers for five practices.
“Even back in the spring, we felt good about the group we had,” Colbert said. “We didn’t have Kendrick Green in the mix at that point. We didn’t have a Trai Turner at that point.”
“We knew it was going to be a transitional period. Once Maurkice (Pouncey) decided to retire. OK, that was one spot. We knew we would have trouble signing Al (Villanueva) just based on where we were with our cap situation. David (DeCastro) given us the retirement when he did, gave us another situation.”
Retirement might be a strong word, the team decided it was time to move on from DeCastro’s recent ankle problems. It’s currently unknown if DeCastro will try to continue his playing career.
Releasing, or having DeCastro retire, allowed Colbert to find a replacement
“Our cap situation changed coming out of the mini-camp when we decided to move on from David,” Colbert said. “Then all of a sudden we had cap room and now wait a minute, this player is available. We might be able to sign him because he was looking for a certain number early in the spring, now in the early summer he might be affordable.”
“Trai Turner is a former Pro Bowl right guard who is only 28 years-old. Can he perform at that level this year for us, time will tell.”
Colbert called it a battle at center between incumbent and the starter of four career NFL games JC Hassenauer from Alabama, former undrafted Steeler, veteran BJ Finney and rookie Kendrick Green. Green is the Steelers 2021 third round pick who started four games at center in his career at the University of Illinois.
Second year, fourth round pick Kevin Dotson becomes the starter at left guard. Colbert says he’s one of those young guys who has to prove he can play 17 games efficiently as a starter.
Left tackle is Chukwuma Okorafor, who started 15 games at right tackle in 2020 due to the knee injury to Zach Banner.
“When we scouted Chuks, we thought he would be a better left tackle than right coming out of college,” Colbert said. “Last year he lost a competition to Zach Banner at right tackle. Had they been competing at left tackle, I think Chuks would have beat him out. I think Chuks can be a starting left tackle.”
That leaves Banner on the right flank of the line as he continues to work back from a major ACL injury
“We are excited to see Zach back at that right tackle spot because he earned it last year,” Colbert said.
“We knew it was going to be a little bit of a mix-and-match, but we were comfortable with the group we had. Albeit having to move on from David to Trai.”
As for that depth, there are a couple of players looking to bounce back from poor 2020 seasons, much like Turner is. Finney with the Bengals and Seahawks, Joe Haeg from Tampa Bay, Rashaad Coward from Chicago and Chaz Green, who made one start with Indy.
For a group so important to the team’s success, it’s a group with many ‘unproven abilities’.