The AFC North at the quarter-pole
Pittsburgh Steelers
Record: 1-3
What we’re learning through the first quarter of the season – or, better stated, what we should’ve remembered from past rebuilding jobs – is that developing a running game is a process.
Especially when you’re building from the ground up.
And by that, I mean the basement floor.
The excuse upon which I had leaned was that last year’s run game finished 32nd, so how much worse can a completely refurbished offensive line be?
Well, we’re seeing that the answer is plenty.
Not that it’s a disaster. The new line is just, well, new, and by new I mean rookies or, in the case of Kevin Dotson, a player so inexperienced in both playing time and high-level coaching that he can be considered a rookie, along with third-round draft pick Kendrick Green and fourth-round pick Dan Moore Jr.
Throw in the fact that Zach Banner is injured and replaced by the player he beat out in competition last year at right tackle (before being injured in the 2020 opener), and so that player, Chuks Okorafor, is the only one with tenure on the line.
Throw in newcomer Trai Turner, signed in late spring, and you have about as complete a refurbishment as I’ve ever witnessed.
How could the Steelers have been caught so flat-footed?
The retirement of Maurkice
