SteelerWatch

The Steelers have, for decades, been known for their offensive line. Chuck Noll was a big supporter of run-first offense, and his successor, Bill Cowher, didn’t change a thing. Steeler runners have long been comforted knowing their blockers were some of the best in the business. That has held particularly true with the guys who have played since 1998, and they’ve been led by left guard Alan Faneca.

The landscape has changed a bit, though. Faneca is no longer happy with his contract and wants out of Pittsburgh. But, a few temper tantrums this spring aside, Alan has been the consummate professional when it came time to work. That simply underscores his career-long work ethic that resulted in him being named as a team captain three times. The question now, of course, is whether or not a player who has put himself in a lame duck position by publicly stating he does not want to re-sign with his current team should be put in a position of leadership.

I had to look at this situation purely from a subjective standpoint; otherwise, a player who possesses Alan’s skill and bad attitude would have ranked somewhere outside the top 10, purely out of spite.  But the fact of the matter is that he is still one of the top-three guards in the nation and probably the best run-blocker in the league.  The only thing keeping him out of the top spot, in my mind at least, is his slightly less than stellar pass blocking — something the entire line suffered from in 2006.  And, with that said, Alan made the top three on the SteelerWatch list based largely on past merit, although he was far and away the best of an under-performing group that gave up more sacks than the Quarterback Slamfest Houston Texans last year.

“But this is supposed to be about who is the best going into camp!  You said so yourself!”  True.  But look at it this way: as the top performer on a weak line, Alan stood out.  Combine that with the fact that he is in a “contract year” and we should see him playing at his 2004 level, when he was hands-down the best guard in the NFL.  He’s no longer playing for a Steeler paycheck; he’s auditioning for a new job.  He has one year to show that he can still play at the highest levels of the league, even though he’s entering his 10th season — generally the upper limit of absolute peak performance for someone in the trenches.

It’s nearly impossible to quantify what a single offensive lineman does for a team.  The only statistics you can measure are things like sacks given up, rushing yards, and tackles for a loss against.  The problem is those are team stats, not player stats.  It’s simply from a habit of watching him play that anyone can honestly say a particular lineman is better than others.  It has, over the last nine seasons, been immensely enjoyable to watch our runners following Faneca downfield.  For a 307-pound offensive lineman, he is incredibly strong, and is one of the best pulling guards I’ve ever had toe privilege of watching.  And, while his pass blocking has never been to the level of his run blocking, he’s always been more than adequate when it came to protecting his quarterback.

In a carousel of offensive linemen since 1998, Faneca has been the one constant on a line that accepts nothing less than the best.  To see him leave after this season will be a tough pill to swallow, and it will leave a hole on the line that won’t easily be filled.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 at 6:37 am and is filed under My Opinion, Offense. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.