Former Pittsburgh Steelers guard Craig Wolfley recently appeared on the Bleav In Steelers Podcast. The show is hosted by another former member of the black and gold, Ike Taylor along with Mark Bergin. Wolfley has been a member of the Steelers family since he was drafted by the team in 1980. He played football until 1991 and has since become a color analyst for the team.
Photo Credit: Pittsburgh Steelers / Pittsburgh Steelers' guard Craig Wolfley
Wolfley, Taylor and Bergin spoke about the way the offensive line has changed from the 80s to now, how he feels the line evolved over this last season and how quarterback Kenny Pickett performed.
Steelers Wolfley On The Making Of Legends
Bergin asked Wolfley what he thought about the offensive line and the improvements that they made as the season progressed.
"That's a group that came together. I mean the line just came together beautifully, it takes time with a line, especially today when they got all the duos, the double teams, you got run-throughs all the time. You've got to be prepared, one guy leaves, one guy takes over, that sort of thing. There are all the zone-blocking concepts that were different than in my day."
The team really looked like two different teams in 2022 between the pre and post-bye parts of the season. Bergin asked Wolfley what he thought they most needed to improve upon in 2023.
"Absolutely it is explosive plays. They were near the bottom in lacking explosive plays. Those are those chunk plays that can derail a good defense. So you're not plodding your way down the field, which while it can tire a defense out, the explosion gets you to the goal faster and forces defense to back off."
It wasn't just the offensive line that improved as the season went on, it was also Pickett. Wolfley had high praise for the young QB.
"Kenny Pickett is just dynamite. He's a young man with mobility, he's got arm strength and he's just got that 'Captain Cool' thing under pressure. Pressure doesn't bother him. I was really pleasantly surprised to see how well he operated in those short time frames, running the two-minute offense. It didn't always show up in the stat sheet but is often the difference between winning and losing."
Wolfley felt that while Pickett was always calm under pressure, he needed to work on his decision-making and that was part of what improved his passing and dropped his interception rate.
"That's proper decision making, going through your professions, your offensive line giving you the time, you're not panicking and you're throwing and you're using all the god-given gifts you got and leading your team down the field."
He said he really knew that Pickett was something special when he saw the game against the (Las Vegas) Raiders. Wolfley felt like there was so much emotion, the anticipation of a 50-year build-up to that game as well as the sudden loss of Franco Harris, but Pickett did not let that get to him.
"There was pressure like you can't believe and yet it's one of two back-to-back games that Kenny leads a last-minute drive, throwing a touchdown pass in the last minute of the game. It was the first time ever in NFL history that a kid does that. How could you have a bigger obstacle in front of you than all that pressure with the Immaculate Reception Celebration going on, and it is minus 10 degrees windchill? You got to lead this team down the field and put this game away for the frozen faithful that are sitting up in the stands there and the kid does it. To me that's how legends are made, that's how legends are born, moments like that."
Kenny Pickett against the Las Vegas Raiders / Charles LeClaire | Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Do you agree with Wolfley? Is Pickett destined for greatness? What did you think of the offense's turnaround last season? Comment below.
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