Steelers' Former Offensive Lineman Ramon Foster Detailed Story About Maurkice Pouncey's Rookie Season

The Pittsburgh Steelers, at the time, made a surprising pick in the 2010 NFL Draft by taking University of Florida center Maurkice Pouncey with the 18th overall selection. The team has a long history of having a premier player at the position, but had never spent that kind of draft capital to get one. The team's incumbent center at the time of the selection was Justin Hartwig. He had won the Super Bowl with the team in 2008, but was turning 32 in November of the upcoming season. 

Foster was in his second year with the team as an undrafted free agent from the University of Tennessee. He had played in 14 games with four starts in his rookie season. Foster said during a recent episode of The Ramon Foster Show that seeing Hartwig get cut just before the start of that season was a big shock. 

"Pounce for the most part was with the twos in training camp," he said. "You know when Pounce got the starting gig opening week when Justin got cut. Biggest shocker in my young career at the time."

Late ESPN reporter John Clayton wrote at the time that the team released Hartwig in September 2010 after failed efforts to try and trade the veteran. Hartwig didn't play another snap in the NFL after being cut. With the benefit of hindsight, Foster said he's now not shocked by the decision. 

Pouncey held onto the team's starting center role for the rest of his career, barring the 2013 season when he was forced to miss all but one game after he tore his ACL and MCL, and the 2015 season when he broke his fibula in the preseason and missed the entire campaign. 

Pouncey was the tone-setter for one of the most impressive offensive line outfits in the league for a good stretch of year in the 2010s. He and guard David DeCastro piled up accolades before they both retired after the 2020 season. Pouncey was nominated to the Pro Bowl nine times and made the AP All-Pro First Team twice.

Pittsburgh has been struggling to find a solution at the center since Pouncey's retirement. Initially, they attempted to transition Kendrick Green into the role during his rookie season, despite him primarily playing as a guard in college with some experience at center. 

When this experiment didn't work out the team turned to the free-agent market and signed Mason Cole before the 2022 season. Cole had a decent first season in Pittsburgh, but his issues with snapping and blocking led to him losing his job with one year remaining on his contract. Pittsburgh will now make another attempt to solidify the center position with the 2024 second-round pick, Zach Frazier.

Steelers Pinning Hopes At Center On Frazier 

Dejan Kovacevic (Foster's co-host) said on the podcast that in the Organized Team Activity practices he's watched so far, Frazier has been running with the second unit. Nate Herbig has been taking the bulk of the first-team reps. It's only football in shorts, so Foster and Kovacevic cautioned about reading too much into that.

Kovacevic explained that the group the team is currently practicing with during spring practices will not be the same lineup when they play against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1. He mentioned that Herbig probably understands he won't be the team's starting center.

Frazier understands the pressure on him to continue to try and prolong the franchise's history of producing top-quality centers. With Pittsburgh trying to transition to a run-heavy scheme with new Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith, Frazier's job will be critical. 

Centers, along with most of the offensive line, perform best when they do their job effectively without drawing attention. During the 2023 season, Cole's frequent poor snaps resulted in too much media coverage. As a local player seeking to make an impact, Frazier will undoubtedly be under scrutiny, but ideally, he should go unnoticed during game broadcasts.