Steelers' Starting Offensive Line Gets An Alarming Reality Check: "Needs A S*** Ton More Reps"

The Pittsburgh Steelers left their preseason opener with a 28-9 win and plenty that looked encouraging, but one man who knows exactly what championship offensive-line play looks like was not ready to hand out a clean grade. Pittsburgh's quarterbacks moved the ball, the tackling caught his attention and the details inside Mike McCarthy's new program were visible. Up front, however, there was still work to do.

The starting offensive line received an extended audition against the Green Bay Packers, staying on the field for much of the first half while McCarthy evaluated a group that is still sorting through pieces on its right side. Pittsburgh won comfortably, but the rushing attack averaged only 2.8 yards per carry, and the first unit had some ugly moments before the deeper portions of the roster took over later in the night.

Former Steelers offensive lineman Trai Essex noticed. Essex spent his Pittsburgh career working across the offensive line after the Steelers selected him in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft, and he was a member of both the Super Bowl XL and Super Bowl XLIII championship teams.

That background makes his postgame assessment particularly interesting. Essex was not searching for something to complain about after Pittsburgh's first exhibition game. In fact, most of what he saw left him encouraged, which made the one area he immediately separated from the rest of his review difficult to ignore.

In a post on X, Essex gave McCarthy's debut a positive review before turning directly toward the starting offensive line.

“Pleasantly surprised. Starting OL needs a s*** ton more reps, but other than that, I like what I see. It’s not flashy, but the attention being paid to detail, you can see it. And the tackling was A LOT better than I expected. You can tell these boys were itching to hit,” Essex wrote.

For an offensive line, “more reps” can mean considerably more than simply accumulating snaps. Pittsburgh is asking several pieces to settle into jobs that either changed during the offseason or remain open, and five capable blockers do not automatically become one functioning unit because their names occupy neighboring spots on a depth chart.

Troy Fautanu had a difficult first game at left tackle, drawing two penalties during the first half. Dylan Cook also surrendered an early sack while working at right tackle. Those individual mistakes were among the reasons Pittsburgh's first-team line received criticism despite the final score making the evening look relatively painless.

There is also an unfinished piece sitting outside the current starting five. Max Iheanachor, Pittsburgh's first-round pick, missed the preseason opener while continuing his return from an upper-body injury. McCarthy had said before the game that Iheanachor was getting close, but the rookie was not ready to play against Green Bay.

The Steelers drafted Iheanachor with the long-term intention of making him their right tackle, while Cook has spent the summer trying to keep the rookie from taking that opportunity immediately. That competition adds another layer to Essex's point because Pittsburgh is not simply trying to sharpen a settled group. It is attempting to develop cohesion while still determining exactly which five players should receive those valuable reps.

Pittsburgh has already been warned about the line entering 2026, particularly with movement at guard and the importance of protecting a 42-year-old quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. The talent inside the room is not the central concern. Turning that talent into five players who operate with the timing of one unit is the larger August project.

Offensive-line chemistry is built in details that rarely survive into a highlight package. A guard and tackle have to pass off movement without hesitation. Communication against pressure has to happen quickly enough that the quarterback never notices it. Run concepts require blockers to understand not only where they are going, but how the player next to them is going to arrive there.

Essex spent enough years inside NFL offensive-line rooms to recognize when those details still need polishing. His criticism also came wrapped inside an otherwise positive reaction, which keeps the Packers performance in perspective. He was not calling Pittsburgh's line a disaster after one exhibition game; he was identifying the area where additional game-speed work looked most necessary.

That distinction becomes important with several weeks remaining before the regular season. The Steelers do not need their offensive line playing its best football on Aug. 13, but McCarthy does need visible progress each time the group takes the field. Penalties, protection errors and missed combinations become much more harmful once Rodgers is standing behind them in September.

Steelers Have Time To Turn Reps Into Cohesion

McCarthy now has to decide how aggressively he wants to chase that cohesion during the remaining preseason schedule. Veterans throughout the roster can be protected from unnecessary August mileage, but an offensive line still learning how its pieces fit together benefits from live situations that a controlled practice cannot completely reproduce.

Iheanachor's return could further complicate the distribution of those snaps. If he pushes Cook at right tackle, Pittsburgh may eventually need to choose between giving its current starters continuity and giving its first-round pick enough work to prove he belongs with them. The right-guard competition creates another variable in a group where every personnel change affects the blocker standing beside it.

There was enough good in Pittsburgh's 28-9 victory for Essex to come away pleasantly surprised. The new coaching staff's attention to detail showed up, the defense tackled better than he anticipated and the overall product gave him reason for optimism.

The former champion simply saw one part of the offense that was not ready to graduate from August yet. For Pittsburgh's starting offensive line, the next assignment is straightforward: take all those reps Essex wants them to get and make sure fewer of them look like they were needed.

#SteelerNation