Leading up to Monday night preseason game against the Washington Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said second-year offensive lineman Kelvin Beachum would finally get to play some center. So how many snaps did the 2012 seventh-round draft pick play over the ball in the game? Try none.
While we don\’t know the real reason why Tomlin went away from his plan to get Beachum center work, we can only speculate that it was scraped because he wanted his starting five to get extra playing time together in the first half because of how poorly they played. They certainly needed it.
Once the starting five were removed at halftime, Beachum\’s chance to play some center was gone as the coaching staff knows they don\’t have a backup tackle on their roster that can play on the left side outside of the SMU product.
The Steelers offensive line depth has been and will remain non existent until another swing tackle is brought in prior to the start of the season. While Beachum can play on the left side in a pinch, even he showed his limitations at the position against the Redskins.
Should either Guy Whimper, D\’Anthony Batiste or Joe Long make the final 53 man roster, it will because the Steelers were beaten to a soon-to-be waived or released tackle by another team with a higher waiver priority or more cap space.
As it stands right now, getting Beachum snaps at center should be the least of their worries. I know it is the least of mine.
