A lot of questions have arisen in regards to how the offensive line is going to end up looking for the 2021 Pittsburgh Steelers offense. There are a number of new faces whose goal is to make an immediate impact on this squad as soon as possible in hopes of making their mark with this team. There is, however, a good balance of veteran guys still left on the group that can help mold these young guys into starters in this league. Although the past couple of seasons have not gone well as far as the offensive line is concerned, this group we have now under new offensive line coach Adrian Klemm seem to be ready for anything thrown their way.
During the Steelers’ three-day minicamp sessions, the media was allowed to ask Klemm as well as many other coaches, a variety of questions in regards to how their particular units are going to look like next year. With all of the additions made to this offense during the off-season, all eyes will be on this year's offense line, questioning whether they can carry their own weight consistently throughout the season or not.
Klemm responded with:
“You set the tone for what it’s going to be and you create an environment in a room, carry that out to the field. You’re demanding of it every, single day." He continued. "It’s not that we’re trying to find ourselves; this is who we’re gonna be. If you’re going to live in this world, that’s how we’re going to live. If you can’t do it, you’ll be at home or you’ll be on the sideline with a hat on. It’s not a democracy in our room; this is what it is.”
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That right there is music to all of SteelerNation's ears. Yes, it is nothing but spoken words at this point, but as of now, we are going to take anything we have and run with it. It's obvious that this year's line groups on both sides of the football are going to be what make or break this football team. Our “anchor” if you will. With that being said, what we are hearing from the small sample size we have seen has been nothing but positive. Klemm even went as far as to add his confidence level with the direction the offense is going in and seem to reiterate how important it is for the organization to be able to run the ball behind a proper offensive line.
“The majority of our guys already have it in them. Once you create that culture, you just feed off of it and you grow. We’re nowhere near where we need to be but there’s been some gains made in that direction and it’s encouraging and I’m excited about it.”
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“But I think up front, the mindset of what we are trying to do, again the charge from Mr. Rooney to be more physical, to run the football as an offensive lineman, you are going to like that,” offensive coordinator Matt Canada said. “We are going to come off the ball and we are going to do that."
Although it is just a small sample size, we can only trust what Klemm and the coaching staff has to say. We could potentially see almost a brand new offensive line group who is hungry and seems to be ready to turn this Steelers running game around. The Steelers did their part in investing in an absolute stud in the draft selecting running back Najee Harris, the backfield is set. It’s time for this offensive line to set the tone and it seems like Klemm is poised to get them there.
Do you have confidence in this year's offensive line? Comment below!
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