Offensive line is OK, just look at trophy

Tuesday, March 03, 2009
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/

In this Nov. 16, 2008, file photo, Chris Kemoeatu lines up against the San Diego Chargers during a game in Pittsburgh. Kemoeatu turned down an offer from the New York Jets and re-signed Friday with the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. (AP)

Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert and coach Mike Tomlin have earned the benefit of the doubt. When you win a Super Bowl, that's a given. Colbert and Tomlin are selling that their offensive line will be good enough to compete for another championship next season. I'm buying.

Actually, it's not so hard.

That line already has helped win one title, right?

I know what you're thinking:

The Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII despitetheir offensive line. There's no way they'll get that lucky again.

I beg to disagree.

The line's struggles last season were well-documented, the extenuating circumstances that contributed to those struggles not so much. Because All-Pro guard Alan Faneca left as a free agent, mediocre center Sean Mahan was traded and guard Kendall Simmons and tackle Marvel Smith were lost early for the year with injuries, the Steelers had to rebuild the line twice. In the end, they were left with a new center (Justin Hartwig), two first-year starters at guard (Chris Kemoeatu and Darnell Stapleton), a second-year starter at right tackle (Willie Colon) and a tackle who hadn't played on the left side on a full-time basis since his college days at Florida (Max Starks).

Not to make excuses.

Just being real.

"If you look at how those five came together as the season went on, I think it's fair to say their play improved," Colbert said at team headquarters yesterday. "That's reflected in the numbers."

The Steelers allowed 29 sacks in the first half of the season, 20 in the second half. OK, so maybe the line didn't "come on fantastically," as offensive coordinator Bruce Arians gushed at the Super Bowl. But it did get better, especially after running back Willie Parker bounced back from knee and shoulder injuries.

It's worth repeating:

The line was good enough to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

"Hopefully, they'll continue to grow and improve," Colbert said.

Ben Roethlisberger is hoisted by Willie Colon and Chris Kemoeatu after Roethlisberger threw the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter of the NFL's Super Bowl XLIII football game against the Arizona Cardinals in Tampa, Florida, February 1, 2009. (Reuters)

It's reasonable to expect as much. (No jokes, please, about how the line can't possibly be worse; I won't laugh). The added experience -- not just the regular season, but the run to the Super Bowl -- should help Kemoeatu, Stapleton, Colon and Starks. A second year in the system should be huge for Hartwig. As Colbert noted, "The center is the hub of communication for any offensive line."

The Steelers bet big money that the line will be significantly better. To keep it together, they tagged Starks as their franchise player, which means he's due to make $8,451,000 next season, although both sides hope to do a long-term contract before then. They signed Kemoeatu to a five-year, $20 million deal. And they gave Colon a $2,198,000 tender to all but make sure he'll be back for another season.

The Starks deal makes sense, unlike a year ago when the Steelers made him their transition player and had to pay him $6.9 million even though he opened the season as Colon's backup. That seemed like a ridiculously high-priced insurance policy at the time, but it turned out pretty well for the team when it had to cash it in and start Starks after Smith's back injury in the fifth game. This time around, the Steelers had to pay Starks. He's the starting left tackle on a Super Bowl winner. That's just the cost of doing business.

The Kemoeatu signing also makes sense, for continuity sake if no other reason. The Steelers clearly don't want to do that revolving-door thing again. "An offensive line is a unit. It's not about one guy or one position," Colbert said. Critics of the Steelers' line look at Kemoeatu more harshly than team management and other NFL clubs do. The Steelers like him enough that they released Simmons, who went out with an Achilles tendon injury in the fourth game last season. The New York Jets thought enough of him to make a slightly better offer than the Steelers'.

As for Colon, by offering him the high tender, the Steelers retained the right to match any offer he receives as a restricted free agent. If he does a deal elsewhere and they don't match it, they would receive a No. 1 draft pick as compensation. The latter scenario seems unlikely.

Colbert's work with the line isn't finished. The Steelers still will try to bring back tackle/guard Trai Essex -- a free agent -- or bring in another lesser-priced veteran for depth. They haven't given up on tackle Tony Hills -- their fourth-round draft pick a year ago -- as a backup even though he couldn't get on the field last season. And they will consider a variety of linemen in the April draft.

"You never want to put your head in the sand and think you don't have to get better at any position," Colbert said. "You always want to look to bring in new faces to build the thing up."

Still, the offensive line last season is the line now and almost certainly will be the line next season.

That's OK.

Really.

"The bottom line is winning," Colbert said. "Those guys helped us win."

Sold me.

Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.
First published on March 3, 2009 at 12:00 am