James Daniels Injury Causes Steelers To Slide In OL Rankings

The Pittsburgh Steelers moved back four spots to No. 20 in Pro Football Focus’ latest offensive line rankings, and the loss of James Daniels, who was the team’s highest-graded lineman, didn’t help matters. The offensive line also struggled a bit in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts, particularly in the run game, so it wasn’t a huge surprise that the unit slid a little bit just on its play alone.

The good news for the Steelers is that OG Isaac Seumalo is likely to return this week, and that should help mitigate some of the drop-off in play with Daniels out. Seumalo is one of the best guards in football and should make a nice impact on a young offensive line. Rookie C Zach Frazier is currently the unit’s best player, according to PFF, which has Frazier as the fourth-best center in the league with a 79.4 overall grade.

Mason McCormick has had a solid start to his NFL career over the last two games, and with Daniels out for the season, he’ll likely shift over to right guard where he could continue to rotate with Spencer Anderson. The two rotated in Week 3 and were going to again in Week 4 until Daniels left with an injury, thrusting Anderson into action at right guard. The plus side is that both of them have experience early in the season, so it won’t be any sort of adjustment for them playing a bigger role the rest of the way.

Despite having one of the best guard tandems in football with Zach Martin and Tyler Smith, Pittsburgh’s Week 5 opponent in the Dallas Cowboys do not have a top-10 offensive line, as the group fell three spots down to No. 12. One of Dallas’ big issues has been rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton. He’s allowed four sacks in four games and also 14 pressures, the sixth-highest total among all offensive tackles.

It could be a good game for OLB Nick Herbig, who is starting for the Steelers in place of the injured Alex Highsmith. T.J. Watt will work against veteran RT Terrence Steele, while Cameron Heyward and Keeanu Benton could look to take advantage of rookie C Cooper Beebe. Dallas’ offensive line is good, but the areas where the Cowboys are inexperienced could lead to opportunities for the Steelers to create some mismatches and make some plays.