Coming out of Illinois as a third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Kendrick Green was viewed — rather erroneously — as a ready-made center by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who needed a quick replacement for the retired Maurkice Pouncey.
Despite playing just four games at center in college, Green was thrust into the starting lineup as a rookie in Ben Roethlisberger’s final season and had a rather poor season, which threw his career into a downward spiral.
Poor snaps, penalties, struggles with power and an overall curbing of his athleticism — his defining trait — led to some serious issues at the pivot in 2021.
Those struggles led to the Steelers signing Mason Cole in free agency last offseason, pushing Green back to left guard. Now, ahead of his third season in the NFL, Green is back at center. To his credit, he said he feels more comfortable there after going through the growing pains and really getting what he needed in the NFL at the position: time to learn and grow.
“You just get put in bad situations, and just deal with it. It is what it is, you know?” Green said to the Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski regarding his positional changes and ups and downs in recent seasons. “I’m getting better – I feel a lot better than I did at this time when I was a rookie. I hadn’t played it then yet. I now have played it at least a little.”
He does have that much-needed experience at the position, playing in 975 snaps as a rookie in 2021 and appearing in 15 games that season.
While those 15 games and nearly 1,000 snaps at the position will certainly help him moving forward, it’s another adjustment with Green back to at a position where he struggled mightily and often looked overwhelmed and unsure of himself.
Now though, that can’t — and shouldn’t — be the case. He has game experience at the position, even if the teammates around him and the quarterback behind him are new. The system remains largely the same, though he does have a new position coach in Pat Meyer, who oversaw him moving to left guard in 2022 before making the switch back to center.
With Nate Herbig, Kevin Dotson, Ryan McCollum and rookie Spencer Anderson all center capable and having that experience as swing interior offensive linemen, Green is no lock for the roster. That said, moving back to center, seemingly full time, and hopefully improving at the position could help him land a spot on the 53-man roster this season as the backup to Cole.
He says he feels a lot better at the position. Now it’s time to show it.
