Pittsburgh Steelers unfdrafted offensive lineman Mike Golic Jr. didn\’t receive any playing time on offense Saturday night in the preseason opener against the New York Giants as he was relegated to only playing three snaps on special teams. Depending on the severity of the injury guard Justin Cheadle suffered Monday during practice, the Notre Dame product figures to play some guard late in the Steelers second preseason game next Monday night against the Washington Redskins.
During the offseason practices, Golic surprisingly received most of his work at right tackle after playing both right guard and center in college. However, once fellow undrafted free agent guard Nik Embernate was lost for the season with a torn ACL and MCL a few weeks ago, Golic was shifted back inside and has reportedly faired pretty well in practices since the move took place.
While Cheadle certainly wasn\’t a lock to make the Steelers 53 man roster this year, it was looking like he was certain to make the practice squad once again if he didn\’t. Being as the Steelers normally like to keep one tackle and one guard on their eight-man practice unit, Golic looked like he could possibly be the odd man out.
Over the last few weeks, it was reported that Golic was working on his center skills much in the same way Cheadle had done throughout the offseason. By making himself position flexibility it will increase his odds of making the practice squad should Cheadle indeed wind up being down for an extended amount of time.
We will have to wait and see if Golic receives any time Saturday night at center against the Redskins, but he should at least have an opportunity to show what he has at one of the two guards spots regardless.
As Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin often likes to say, “One man\’s misfortune or circumstance creates opportunity for others.”
