Playing along an offensive line for a run-first offense can come with specific or niche preferences.
Durable, consistent, and strong are preferred qualities in any offensive lineman, among many others, but holding those as elevated points beyond the average lineman's skillset separates good offensive linemen from great ones in aiding a successful running game.
The Steelers made strides in developing that room in the offseason with the adds of first-round pick Broderick Jones and Eagles Super Bowl champion Isaac Seumalo to fortify the left side, and James Daniels took a massive step as an all-around guard last season.
Over the last two seasons, though, the void left at center by Maurkice Pouncey's retirement after the 2020 campaign has been filled by Mason Cole, and there is another gear to hit for the sixth-year Michigan product.
When it comes to Cole's next step in his evolution as a more complete center, it's about bringing things back to basics and building off of those concepts.
“(Mike) Tomlin’s been talking to the whole team a lot about doing the fundamentals, the routine movements, the things we do every day, not getting bored with it, and maximizing what we do in individual time and stuff like that," Cole told me as mandatory minicamp wrapped up last week on the South Side. "I think it’s been big for me, and Pat (Meyer is) helping in a huge way. Every day we’re working on fundamentals, the little things, and it can seem repetitive, especially for a younger guy that hasn’t been with Pat, but it works. The way we set, the way we get off the ball in the running game, we rep those things every single day. So just getting those routines down and doing those movements every single day, it’s still in your brain and you don’t really have to think about it.”
Cole ranked as the 12th-best center in the NFL (out of 36 graded centers) last season, according to Pro Football Focus, with an overall grade of 67.1. His pass-blocking grade of 63.8 was tied for 24th in the league, while his run blocking grade of 66.5 was 14th. He accomplished this while playing a career-high 1,114 snaps, 10th most in the NFL and just 46 shy of the Steelers' total snaps for the 2022 season as he battled mid-season foot issues.
His 2021 season was "better" by PFF's metrics, as he earned a career-best grade of 69.7 to finish 13th among centers. These two past seasons have, still, net better grades than his first three in Arizona, as his best prior to 2021 was the grade of 58.4 he achieved in 2019.
Analytics aside, Cole has been a durable and clean protector for his quarterback, with zero penalties accepted against him and 1.5 sacks allowed in 2022. He might not be the most athletic center or able to run out in space but, what he might lack athletically, he more than makes up for in the mind.
“Very good. Very good. He’s smart," Meyer said. "We talk about Isaac being smart, and we’ve got a lot of smart guys, and you’ve got to be smart up there because we do a lot of stuff. Everybody does, I’m not just talking our scheme. There’s just a lot of things, and when guys break the huddle and get up to the line, there may be, literally, 10 different things that are probably going through their heads that they don’t even realize because it becomes natural to them because they’ve done reps and reps and reps.
"His leadership, his intelligence, his knowledge of the football game, his study habits, the way he approaches the game, all those, you love having guys like that because you don’t have to spend as much time on with them. If they get it you tell them one time. You coach it, you show it, you do it, they get it. You see that same look or whatever two weeks later and they’re like, ‘oh, yeah I remember that from two weeks ago.’ Having that is beneficial for us.”
Seumalo has played with the best of the best at the center in future Hall of Famer Jason Kelce. It would be unjust to try to compare Cole to Kelce at this point from a career perspective, but Seumalo noted during voluntary OTAs that the transition from playing alongside Kelce to Cole has gone smoothly.
"Mason, I think, is a very good player. Smart," Seumalo said. "At center you need a guy that is not just smart but can vocalize that to everybody and see everybody's perspective on each play and how that operates. It's been a good transition."
Having that endorsement from Seumalo, who is lauded for not only being a rock-solid left guard, but also one of the smartest ones out there, rings loudly. But, Cole's improvement can some twofold: As an indirect byproduct of wholesale changes -- which he deemed "inevitable" to our Chris Halicke during OTAs -- to the offensive line around him, and as a direct result of growth and development.
How does Cole take that next step? I brought that up to Meyer during minicamp.
"Just to continue to work on fundamentals," he said. "Continue to work on pad level, continue to work on anchor, brace, hand placement, hand usage, strike. All the things that he can in terms of his physical attributes. Recognizing things pre-snap, studying the game knowing like, 'hey, if this happens, what's my answer to it,' and that's all the stuff that we're trying to work on in the spring time and during the spring camp and early into fall camp."
