All eyes entering the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2025 season will be on quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but the one group that is the most important to any success — or failure — for the Black and Gold resides in the trenches.
That would be with the young offensive line that is seemingly improved on paper but needs to show it in actual games.
For ESPN’s Damien Woody, who appeared on The Pat McAfee Show Wednesday, if the Steelers’ offensive line takes a step forward this season, can protect new quarterback Aaron Rodgers and consistently open running lanes, the Steelers will be “cooking” under offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
“Listen, I think the offensive line with the Pittsburgh Steelers is the biggest unknown and I think the biggest factor in how well this Pittsburgh Steelers team can play and how far they can go,” Woody said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “Because I think if the Pittsburgh Steelers are getting the Aaron Rodgers that we saw towards the end of the season last year when he was healthy, I think the Pittsburgh Steelers will be hell to play against because listen, first of all, any Mike Tomlin-coach[ed] team is always going to come and prepare to play.
“We know that identity lies on the defensive side of the football, but the one thing when you saw the Pittsburgh Steelers last year when they collapsed, the primary reason why they collapsed is because they couldn’t get anything generated on the offense side, particularly quarterback position.”
The Steelers are coming into 2025 with high hopes for their young offensive line. Broderick Jones is back at left tackle after two years at right tackle, while second-year pro Troy Fautanu is healthy and looking like one of the best linemen on the team through training camp and the preseason.
On the interior, center Zach Frazier looks like the next franchise great, while many are high on right guard Mason McCormick and the edge he brings to the group. That doesn’t even mention veteran left guard Isaac Seumalo, who is the steady leader for the group and is quietly one of the better guards in football year after year.
With a rookie Kaleb Johnson a better fit schematically in Smith’s zone scheme, and a quarterback in Rodgers who reads the field well and is good at getting the offense into the right looks, things are really looking up for Pittsburgh’s offense.
But it will only go as far as the offensive line. Depth is a real concern, but the starting unit looks good on paper and should be able to take a significant step forward this season now that the young players have experience under their belts.
It will come down to running the football, though, which is something the Steelers have struggled to do so far in training camp and in the preseason.
“I think running the football in this Arthur Smith offense, I think that’s gonna be the key because what you don’t want is for teams to start teeing off on Aaron Rodgers, getting the third and long and all that type of stuff because you can’t run the football,” Woody said. “If they can run the football with these two tight ends, [Pat] Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith and DK Metcalf on the outside, I think the Pittsburgh Steelers will be cooking and it’s gonna be a team that we’re gonna be talking about a lot later on the year and in the postseason.”
The pieces are in place to be a good team, one that can make a run this season and potentially win a playoff game or two. The Steelers are loaded on defense, and they finally have a quarterback they believe in to make all the right plays, take care of the football and get the offense into the right looks.
Sure, Rodgers is 41 years old, but if they can protect him and if they can run the football and take some of the onus off him, it could lead to a successful offense in 2025, which should translate to a number of wins.
It will all come down to the big boys up front though. The Steelers will go as they go.
