Anyone who has watched the Pittsburgh Steelers this preseason knows that the offensive line’s pass blocking has been an issue. Today I wanted to provide context for how this compares to the rest of the NFL through two preseason games.
Here is a visual of Pro Football Focus’ pass blocking efficiency stat (measures pressure allowed per snap, with more weight toward sacks) along with sacks allowed:
The stats justify the general bad perception of the offensive line, as they’re one of the worst lines. Their 83.1 pass-blocking efficiency ranks 28th, and even worse, they allowed the second-most sacks of any offensive line.
This is unfortunate, of course. While it’s not “real football,” it has made it tougher to evaluate the young QBs at times. Clearly not what Steelers fans want to read nearing the regular season either.
Looking at the biggest culprits, though, one name stands out above the rest – T Broderick Jones. He is Pittsburgh’s only lineman with multiple sacks allowed: three. This ties Jones with just one other player for the most sacks allowed, out of 427 offensive linemen who have preseason snaps. Ouch.
It has been great to see Jones recover from his injury, playing the most preseason snaps of any Steeler. But this simply isn’t good enough to push for a starting role barring injury (as some have recently suggested). Add in the fact that 2026 rookie T Max Iheanachor is set to return from injury, and the preseason finale is a huge opportunity for him.
Other Steelers offensive linemen who have allowed a sack are C Ryan McCollum, G Jack Driscoll, T Troy Fautanu, and T Dylan Cook. The latter has started both games at right tackle, the main position that is still up for debate.
Here are snap counts at RT for the primary candidates:
Dylan Cook: 47
Broderick Jones: 54
Max Iheanachor: Zero (may make debut Thursday)
As of now, the team obviously should be leaning towards starting Cook, who’s shown the best quality and quantity. Finishing strong should cement him as a Week One starter. Iheanachor has a chance to make it a conversation if he performs well. One thing’s for sure: I can’t wait to see how his NFL debut goes. Hopefully he can perform better than Jones, leading to more optimism about the unit heading into the regular season.
