![\"Chris](\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1724429143-copy.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=780\")
<\/p>\nQuarterback will likely dominate discussions around the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason. But when proposing one key addition Mike Tomlin\u2019s team could make for 2024, Bleacher Report\u2019s Alex Ballentine argued the Steelers should add one of their former offensive tackles \u2014 Chris Hubbard.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAn aging veteran who has experience as a swing tackle could be a worthwhile investment,\u201d\u00a0Ballentine wrote. \u201cChris Hubbard played that role for the Titans this season and was one of their better-graded linemen via\u00a0PFF\u2019s metrics. He scored a 69.0 on 473 snaps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hubbard began\u00a0his career as an undrafted free agent for the Steelers in 2014. He started four games in 2016 and then became the team\u2019s full-time starting right tackle in 2017.<\/p>\n
In four seasons with the Steelers,\u00a0Hubbard took snaps\u00a0at every offensive line position except right guard.<\/p>\n
Since then, he\u2019s spent five seasons with the\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u00a0and the 2023 season with the\u00a0Tennessee Titans.<\/p>\n
Hubbard will be a free agent in March.\u00a0He signed a 1-year, $1.315 million contract with the Titans last offseason.<\/p>\n
The Steelers already have\u00a0veteran tackles Dan Moore and Chukwuma Okorafor, along with 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones, under contract for 2024. However, none of them played all that well in 2023 according to the Pro Football Focus player grades.<\/p>\n
This past season, Moore, Okorafor and Jones all finished with\u00a0a PFF player grade that ranked outside the top 50 among tackles\u00a0who played at least 20% of their team\u2019s offensive snaps.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t tell the full story for Jones.\u00a0PFF ranked\u00a0Jones the third-best rookie tackle in the 2023 regular season.<\/p>\n
But the Steelers could use an upgrade at tackle to play opposite Jones next season.<\/p>\n
According to PFF, Hubbard outperformed Moore and Okorafor in both run blocking and pass protection. He would likely be cheaper than either Moore or Okorafor too, which is an important factor because of Pittsburgh\u2019s salary cap situation. The Steelers are $6.7 million over the salary cap\u00a0according to Spotrac.<\/p>\n
That could make drafting a tackle to pair with Jones a more appealing option. But Pittsburgh has several key needs on its roster. If tackle isn\u2019t prioritized on the first two days of the draft, then adding Hubbard should be on the table.<\/p>\n
Hubbard played\u00a0in 39 games for the Steelers from 2014-17. In his final two seasons with Pittsburgh, he started 14 games at right tackle.<\/p>\n
With the Browns, Hubbard started 29 games at right tackle from 2018-19.\u00a0He then made five starts\u00a0at right guard, playing the last of the five offensive line spots, in 2020.<\/p>\n
Hubbard\u2019s versatility should make him a very appealing free-agent option for the Steelers.<\/p>\n
What the Steelers decide to do in the draft will determine whether adding Hubbard will be necessary. But before anything else, the team has to determine their plan with Jones.<\/p>\n
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told the media on January 19 that the team is undecided on\u00a0where the 2023 first-round pick will play next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously he has capabilities in that area,\u201d\u00a0Tomlin said of Jones playing left tackle. \u201cBut he was more than capable at right tackle as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones arrived in Pittsburgh having played left tackle his entire college career. But he became the Steelers\u2019 starting right tackle midway through the 2023 season.<\/p>\n
Jones did well as a run blocker at right tackle, but\u00a0he struggled in pass protection. The Steelers continued to play him in his unnatural position, though, because Moore, the team\u2019s starting left tackle,\u00a0couldn\u2019t make the transition to right tackle as easily.<\/p>\n
Moore has\u00a0one year remaining on his contract. So, the Steelers could choose to keep Jones at right tackle another season and start Moore on the quarterback\u2019s blindside.<\/p>\n
But should the Steelers want their best tackle starting all of 2024 at left tackle, then a return to his most natural position could be the move for Jones.<\/p>\n
Should that occur,\u00a0a cheap right tackle such as Hubbard could be a smart addition for Pittsburgh in free agency.<\/p>\n
Quarterback will likely dominate discussions around the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason. But when proposing one key addition Mike Tomlin\u2019s team could make for 2024, Bleacher Report\u2019s Alex… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82447\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}