FanHouse Willie Colon

As we have done since the FanHouse began, I'll be taking a look every week at some aspect of line play. You can read more features in the series here. Check back every Thursday for a new Between The Lines.

For three years I rewatched every Steelers game with an eye on the offensive line. And a good bit of the time, it wasn't pretty. Whether it was a debacle against the Raiders in 2006 or the mass of confusion against the Eagles in 2008, there have been plenty of lowlights.

After watching the Steelers win the Super Bowl last year despite a struggling offensive line, I kind of figured that if everything went well, Pittsburgh could figure out a way to do it again. They had enough defense and enough skill position players on offense to make up for the offensive line's problems.

Over at NFL.com, there's a new feature called "O-Line Confidential" which consists of the five Steelers' offensive lineman sitting around the dinner table at a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse talking football.

It's a great feature, hopefully just the first of a series as the Steelers' o-linemen offer some insight, show some humor and give everyone a chance to get know a group that is relatively anonymous in general. During the segment they also make it known that they aren't real happy with all the criticism they hear, which makes sense considering no group is probably more criticized than the Steelers' offensive line.

Two games into the preseason, the Steelers are a good bit closer to deciding which offensive linemen will be making the 53-man roster, and it's remarkable how much the conventional wisdom has changed from what we thought we knew during the summer.

Kraig Urbik was supposed to battle for a starting job at guard. Instead, he's likely to make the team entirely on the basis of future potential, as he hasn't shown that he's capable yet of contributing to the 2009 Steelers. Guard/tackle Ramon Foster has gone from a little known undrafted free agent to someone whose not only nearly a sure-bet to make the roster, but also someone who could make the 46-man active roster this season. And Doug Legursky has gone from being a practice squad player to a productive fill-in on the first team.

It doesn't seem to matter if the Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a non-playoff season or a Super Bowl title, at the start of training camp there always seems to be plenty of worries about their offensive line. It's been a common thread at the start of each and every training camp over the past four years.

It's business as usual this year, which means that the team's biggest concern is whether Trai Essex is ready to be a starter at guard and can a year of playing together make a big difference for the rest of the projected starters. We got our first glimpse against the Cardinals last Thursday night. So what did they show?

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

The Steelers are never big players in free agency, so the draft is of vital importance to the Steelers ability to contend year in and year out. With two Lombardi trophies and another AFC Championship appearance in the past five years, it's clear that Kevin Colbert and the Steelers' scouting department have done their job well.

The Steelers rarely draft players to start right away. Even 2003 first-round pick Troy Polamalu played only sporadically as a rookie and last year's top two picks, Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed, will be asked to play much bigger roles in 2009 than they did in 2008.

The San Francisco 49ers made a pair of moves on Friday afternoon in regards to their offensive tackle position. After releasing veteran Jonas Jennings, the team agreed to a two-year deal with free agent Marvel Smith, in what amounts to the swapping of one injured tackle for another.

According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, Smith's deal is filled with incentives in the event his season is cut short by injuries, which has been the case in each of the past two years.

---

---

The Steelers have apparently decided that last year's offensive line was good enough to keep around.

After franchising Max Starks, tendering Willie Colon and re-signing Chris Kemoeatu, the Steelers brought back a fourth member of the gang on Tuesday, signing backup Trai Essex to a three-year, $2 million deal. The deal means the Steelers will likely open the season with the same top six linemen as the group that dressed for the Super Bowl.

It's worth noting that the rest of the NFL appears to have the same opinion as the Steelers fans of the Steelers offensive linemen. Essex's deal is one of the smallest free-agent contracts any offensive lineman has signed this offseason, while Kemoeatu's five-year, $20 million deal is paltry for a starting offensive guard.

---

---

The Steelers decision to franchise Max Starks may seem puzzling, but for a team that just won the Super Bowl, it's a pretty logical move.

By tagging Starks, Pittsburgh ensures that it doesn't head into free agency with a gaping hole. With Starks locked up, Pittsburgh could start the season with Starks, Kendall Simmons, Justin Hartwig, Darnell Stapleton and Willie Colon. It's not a good line; in fact, it's a pretty poor one, but it's not really any worse than the one that won the Super Bowl.

Last offseason, the Steelers slapped Max Starks with the transition tag, and at the time, most people didn't know what to make of the move. Starks, the team's starting right tackle during the 2005 Super Bowl season, had lost his job to Willie Colon, and paying a backup more than $6 million to ride the pine didn't make much sense.

It turned out to be a great move, however, because left tackle Marvel Smith missed most of the season with a back injury, and Starks, who will never be mistaken for Jonathan Ogden, played well in his absence. So well, in fact, that Pittsburgh franchised him Thursday afternoon.