Steelers Center Mason Cole's Revealing Thoughts On Rookie Kenny Pickett's "Special" Trait

During the 2022 off-season, the Pittsburgh Steelers brought in center Mason Cole to hopefully fulfill the role of former All-Pro, Maurkice Pouncey. He was picked up by the Steelers after having a one-year stint with the Minnesota Vikings, where he was used as a center and a guard. Recently, Cole sat down with Dale Lolley to discuss last year's season and what we could expect going forward.

After having a rough start to the season going 3-7, the Steelers turned that around, only losing one game the rest of the season and going 9-8 while fighting for playoff contention. Cole discusses how great faith the team had in each other and in Coach Mike Tomlin to overcome a rough start:

"Having the faith in the culture and the trust in Coach Tomlin to lead us in the right direction. I think that's what got us to this point." Cole also states that, "To end the season on the right note or how we did, I think it's a testament to the guys just putting their heads down and working."

Steelers were going to use Cole

Going into the season, it was uncertain whether or not the Steelers were going to use Cole as a center or as a guard like he was with the Vikings. The Steelers had just brought in guard, James Daniels, which led people to believe that Cole would be playing center. Cole discussed in the interview why he felt like he was a better fit for the center position:

"I'd played only a handful of games at guard and had plenty of starts at center and I just like the leadership aspect of and the vocal aspect of playing center."  

To build off that quote, Cole was asked how important the vocal aspect of playing center came into play when Pittsburgh brought in rookie quarterback, Kenny Pickett. Cole responded with:

"Kenny was great all year, his want and will to understand stuff like protection and defensive fronts is really special." Cole then states, "For him to pick my ear and me being able to teach him some things is a cool relationship to have." 

Pittsburgh's offensive line performed very poorly during the 2022 season. Going into that off-season, many believed that this was a key focus point for the team to build on in the off-season. Cole and Daniels would be the only pickups during the off-season. Cole then discussed the offensive line and how they got things around after a shaky start: 

"I think good things take good time." Cole said as well, "We have a really special group in there." In terms of next year's production, Cole shared, "At a more efficient rate, we can be more consistent, we can always be better."

Toward the end of the year and even so early on, we saw the Steelers' run game look like an old-school, hard-nosed, Steeler football run game. Cole goes on to discuss what made that happen:

"We take a lot of credit for some of the run game, but Najee [Harris] and Jaylen [Warren], and Benny [Snell], and Ant Man [Anthony McFarland], all those backs just had a really good year." Cole then says, " When that pile falls forward and Najee's putting his head down, it's exciting to see."

The Steelers running game and the overall offense was much more exciting to see than in the year previous. With the many improvements that the Steelers made last year, is the offensive line as much of a worry this year? Could we see the Steelers be content with what they have now? Let me know in the comments below!

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