Former Steelers Head Coach Reveals Key for Pittsburgh to Have a Successful Season
Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher believes the offensive line is the key for the team to be successful this season. He said, “I think the biggest thing for them this year is development on the offensive line. Say what you want. They’re young, and they need to be able to keep Aaron Rodgers upright. Hopefully, Arthur Smith can get the running game going. It takes a lot of pressure off Aaron.” Steelers center Zach Frazier and right guard Mason McCormick did well in their rookie season. If their performance continues to improve, Frazier and McCormick, along with veteran left guard Isaac Seumalo, will be strong players this season.
Broderick Jones has had a smooth transition from right tackle to left tackle this year. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith spoke about Jones switching to left tackle. He remarked, “Broderick’s background was different than the three guys we drafted last year. Those guys had played a lot of college starts. I know Broderick is a terrific athlete for a tackle, and he was forced to play right, and then the three-man competition we had with Dan Moore Jr. playing left only, and then obviously Troy Fautanu being a rookie. Then Troy got hurt, so it ended up Broderick playing right tackle. He feels like he’s a natural left. We’ve been able to kind of settle that down. Both those guys have done a nice job.” Jones will protect veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ blindside. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin expressed confidence in Jones’ and right tackle Fautanu’s performance after the final day of training camp. He said, “Broderick got slowed by a little day-to-day injury there for a spell, but he’s really been on the uptick since his return. Same with Troy. I like the trajectory of the group.”
Former Steelers linebacker Arthur Moats praised Jones for his performance this preseason. Moats said, “Throughout this whole preseason the guy I would say offensively impressed me the most has been Broderick Jones. That’s the guy that a lot of eyes were on. We know the reports coming out of training camp, they weren’t the best, Alex Highsmith was having a lot of success against him, but when you look at Jones at left tackle in-stadium these three games, he hasn’t allowed pressure, he hasn’t allowed sacks, he hasn’t been penalized. He’s looked good, so to me that’s a guy I focused on and I really feel good about.” Jones believes that confidence is vital to playing offensive line. He remarked, “I feel like once you have confidence at the O-line position, you’d be OK…Confidence is like 80 percent of the battle when it comes to playing offensive line.”
