Steelers' Mike McCarthy Is Announcing Permanent Change To A Major Part Of The Offensive Unit

The Pittsburgh Steelers are experimenting a lot with the offensive line in 2026. Their first order of business was to flip the unit entirely. Everyone who played on the right side in 2025 moved to the left and vice versa. There is still plenty of time to see exactly who fits best where, and expectations are that numerous combinations will be toyed with as practice continues on. They are in a unique position where they could have up to nine starter-caliber linemen on the team. No one else in the NFL can say that. 

However, it seems like the Steelers won't do as much experimenting as initially believed. During a post-practice press conference, Head Coach Mike McCarthy announced one decision that will lock a couple players in place.

"Obviously, [Troy Fautanu and Mason McCormick] are gifts athletically," McCarthy said. "The way they're wired: very smart players... I really just wanted to get that left side set. Those guys were really excited about it, so that made that very easy for me."

The Steelers could keep toying with the right side of the offensive line. However, McCarthy clearly knows who will be playing tackle and guard on the left side: Troy Fautanu and Mason McCormick. The two worked well together on the opposite side. Clearly however, the plan is to have them work exclusively on the blind side and hone their skills on that side of the ball, and continue to grow from their excellent 2025 season. 

The primary reason for this is first-round rookie Max Iheanachor is primarily a right tackle. While he may not start in Week 1, it doesn't make sense for Fautanu to play right tackle until he's ready and make big changes across the whole line. This move is not made with just 2026 in mind; this decision is being made with the future of the Steelers in mind, so all these young guys can gel together in these exact spots for years to come.

McCormick made the shift to left guard due to his insane level of chemistry and communication with Fautanu. Instead of breaking them up and having them develop that kind of relationship with other people, McCarthy opted to have them shift together with the idea that they can learn better together and build off of how well they played in 2025. Instead of moving both of them whenever Iheanachor is ready, they went ahead and swapped sides immediately. 

Steelers Can Still Play Around With Different Options On The Right Side

With Fautanu and McCormick now being locked into their new roles, the focus shifts to the other end. The biggest key here is developing the rookies and seeing how well they can build chemistry with each other and the ones that have been around for longer. Iheanachor and Gennings Dunker will eventually play next to each other with the first-team offensive line, but they have to prove themselves and learn the ropes of the NFL first. 

Meanwhile, Dylan Cook is moving to right tackle after a very impressive stretch of games to end the 2025 season. He will be competing with Broderick Jones whenever he gets medically cleared to practice. Whoever loses that battle will likely be the swing tackle for jumbo sets. Cook has shown a lot more promise recently, so he will likely have the edge in training camp.

Meanwhile, Spencer Anderson is the ultimate Swiss Army Knife of the offensive line. He is slated as the starting right guard until Dunker develops. He could end up losing the job just because of how valuable he is as a bench piece, as he can sub in for any of the starting five while also excelling as a swing tackle. Whenever Pittsburgh wants to try something new on the line, having Anderson around will help with that a lot.

What do you think about Fautanu and McCormick permanently playing blind side for the foreseeable future? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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