Don’t let anyone fool you. Don’t let anyone spin it another way or serve it to you on any platter but the following one: The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive tackle situation is a damn disaster right now. It is a guessing game mixed with hope and, for good measure, a dash of blind faith thrown in.
Even in a best-case scenario, the Steelers were going to barrel into this season with a gigantic unknown quotient on the far ends of that line. If all things would have worked out as planned, the Steelers would be headed into the Bills game with relatively untested Chukwuma Okorafor starting at left tackle and almost totally untested Zach Banner at right tackle.
And that would have been best case scenario.
But even on the highway to that tenuous and shaky best case scenario, the Steelers seemed to have hit a throng of potholes. More specific, Banner doesn’t appear to be back to anywhere near 100 percent from his injury last season and Okorafor appears to be trending much closer to “stinks” on the continuum than “great.”
So there’s that.
As such, it would be logical for the Steelers to roll out there against Buffalo with rookie Dan Moore, Jr. securing Ben Roethlisberger’s blind side at left tackle and slide Chuks --- who kind of stinks --- over to the right side. So that shuffling leaves a guy playing in his very first NFL regular season game saddled with a gigantic task and another guy who you hold your breath on with every snap trying to fasten the right side.
That doesn’t exactly shine a ton of confidence down on the Steelers’ ability to run their offense even as I am relatively high on Moore, Jr. and think he could wind up being very good for a long time.
With that Moore Jr./Chuks configuration it just feels like the Steelers would be trying to get away with “hiding” Chuks at right tackle because they don’t have anyone else better they could plug in right now.
And about those other guys? There is Joe Haeg, who doesn’t exactly strike a ton of fear or, well, he would have come in here and beat out either Chuks or Moore, Jr. for the job.
So there you have it; that’s what you got with the Steelers’ offensive tackle situation. This is an offense that is supposed to do very good things this season or at least has the skill personnel collected to where it could do very good things.
I’m just worried. Really worried.
How is a great running back going to muster any forward drive if defensive ends are in his lap all day?
How is Big Ben going to work the field if he’s running for his life? Especially at his age?
Hey, it all could work out. Perhaps Moore, Jr. is the stud he’s projected to be from the very first snap and either Chuks or Banner step in and clamp off that right side.
Truth is though, right now I’d have to see it to believe it.