The Steelers couldn’t pass up on Mason McCormick in the fourth round, but did they see another potential Ramon Foster? Perhaps so, even if they didn’t directly invoke the name. As Foster shared recently, the Steelers had a fourth-round grade on him, even though he went undrafted.
But Foster certainly had a fourth-round pick’s career, or better. Over 11 years, he started 145 games, earning a full-time starting job in 2012, Year 4. Although he started most of the previous season, he did so only after Willie Colon’s season-opening injury. Similarly, Mason McCormick started most of last season, but only due to injury. And they both made the most of that opportunity, parlaying it into a full-time role by the following season.
The Steelers “got very lucky grabbing Mason McCormick in that late fourth [round],” Mark Kaboly argued recently on 93.7 The Fan. “This is a guy that looks like he’s gonna be one of those solid, Ramon Foster-type players. Maybe he’s not the best guy on the offensive line, but he’s extremely reliable and very, very smart and able to do his job well.”
McCormick is the third offensive lineman the Steelers drafted in 2024. Earlier in the weekend, they drafted OT Troy Fautanu in the first round and OC Zach Frazier in the second. McCormick will start between them at RG, where Foster began.
By 2015, the Steelers moved Ramon Foster to left guard, and I wonder if Mason McCormick will do the same. He actually made his debut there and practiced there primarily during his rookie offseason due to Isaac Seumalo’s injury. He ultimately took over at right guard after James Daniels suffered a season-ending injury. But Seumalo is 32 and in the last year of his contract. Once he retires, does McCormick move over there, where he played in college?
McCormick logged 3,378 snaps at left guard during his college career, and only a few dozen snaps elsewhere, including center. Ramon Foster played both left and right guard in college, and even some at tackle.
Earlier this offseason, McCormick downplayed the notion that moving to right guard was a big deal. He said the difference wasn’t as drastic as that between guard and tackle, which Ramon Foster would understand better, having played both.
One advantage Mason McCormick has over Ramon Foster is that he has a secure starting job earlier in his career. Granted, he came into the league at 24, but Foster was 23 as a rookie, too, less than a full year younger.
But the bottom line is, if the Steelers get out of McCormick what they got out of Foster, that’s a home-run selection. If they get even a little bit more athleticism out of him, perhaps he can raise the bar even higher.
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