Steelers Training Camp Battle: Chris Kemoeatu vs. Willie Colon vs. Kendall Simmons vs. Sean Mahan

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

When Alan Faneca took off for the Jets in the offseason, he took with him seven Pro Bowl appearances. Left behind is a Steelers offensive line filled with aging veterans, inexperienced youngsters and very little in between.

The Steelers have as many as five candidates to fill Faneca's spot. But this is a case where quality would be a lot better than quantity.

Instead they have a fourth-year pro who's never been able to win a starting job (Chris Kemoeatu); last year's starting right tackle, who might move inside (Willie Colon), a failed center who is expected to lose his job (Sean Mahan), a highly paid but underachieving guard (Kendall Simmons), and a second-year pro who was an undrafted agent just last year (Darnell Stapleton).


Fourth-year pro Kemoeatu is the favorite to replace Faneca at left guard, although there has also been talk of moving Colon inside, as the 6-foot-3 Colon is much more suited to play guard than tackle. Kemoeatu's strength is that he can be a mauler as a run blocker, but he's had trouble in pass blocking and in remembering his assignments. For some reason Simmons is getting a free pass, probably largely because he's a long-time starter and he has a massive long-term deal. The reality is that Simmons was not much better than Sean Mahan last year, and Mahan's name is now considered a four-letter word in Pittsburgh.

If the Steelers are aiming at putting the best offensive line possible on the field, they'll throw open the competitions at every spot with the exception of left tackle. But Pittsburgh seems more likely to try to ensure some continuity, which means that Simmons will be the right tackle for the season opener and there's a decent chance that Willie Colon will be at right tackle, which would keep the turnover to two of five spots (left guard and center, where Justin Hartwig is expected to replace Mahan).

With a solid defense, an outstanding quarterback and a bulked up running game, the offensive line and a brutal schedule are the Steelers' biggest obstacles. Unfortunately both of those are very big problems.