While it certainly didn’t come out of nowhere, the news dropped yesterday that longtime Pittsburgh Steelers starting center Maurkice Pouncey was retiring after 11 seasons. It was the latest domino to fall for a once-dominant offensive line that the team is finding out needs a lot of tweaking after age and departures have taken its toll.
Ramon Foster retired last year already. Marcus Gilbert was traded following a round of injuries. Now Alejandro Villanueva is likely to leave in free agency. That was four fifths of the Steelers’ starting five for a good chunk of time, and arguably the best combination they have ever had at one time in their history.