The Pittsburgh Steelers completed their 2023 draft by selecting Maryland offensive lineman Spencer Anderson with the 251st pick in the seventh round. Today I wanted to look at and provide stat context of the interior offensive line using Sports Info Solutions (SIS), considering Anderson played the bulk of his snaps at right guard in 2022, though he does have versatile experience across the line (namely right tackle, right guard, and center) that were attractive to Pittsburgh.
The data in this study looks at their final college season in 2022, focusing on the players who heard their names called in the draft, and one player was excluded due to SIS not tracking smaller schools. The goal is to see how Anderson stacked up amongst his peers.
First, let’s look at the tackle’s regular and postseason snap totals last season:
Through Steelers lenses, we see Anderson was towards the top of the list with 883 snaps, which ranked sixth out of the 22 qualifying players. He played and started in all 13 games last season for Maryland, and thanks to our own Melanie Friedlander’s entrance physical research, he has been very durable in his career to date. Hopefully that is something he can continue into the NFL as that journey begins.
Next, let’s add quality context in run and pass blocking with SIS’s points above average metric (the total of a player’s EPA responsibility while blocking using the Total Points system that distributes credit among all players on the field for a given play. For blockers, this includes accounting for blown blocks, yards before contact on running plays, and performance given the defenders in the box.):
Anderson lands on a very stark point on the bottom left of the chart, the only player with negative numbers in both data points. His pass block result was the better of the two results, but still ranked next to last, while landing dead last as a run blocker. Of course, I did not expect him to land atop the chart as a seventh-round selection, but this comparative context of the draft class is pretty telling. One notable issue to this result was 11 blown blocks in pass protection and a holding penalty, compared to four blown blocks and an additional hold as a run blocker.
Looking at Anderson’s PFF grades to cross reference, they agreed on his issues as a run blocker (55.1), but had him faring much stronger with a 79.8 pass block grade. So, he had his fair share of misses in his matchups, and fared better as a pass blocker. It will be interesting to see how his career develops as a depth piece to learn and hopefully improve starting his rookie year.
To wrap up, let’s look at a more total blocking view with SIS’s points earned metric (the total of a player’s EPA responsibility while blocking using the Total Points system that distributes credit among all players on the field for a given play. Totals are scaled up to map to the average points scored or allowed on a team level, with the player’s snap count determining how much to adjust. For blockers, this includes accounting for blown blocks, yards before contact on running plays, and performance given the defenders in the box.) and which NFL teams made their dreams a reality by selecting them:
Out of the 2023 NFL draft picks at the position, Anderson ranked dead last in points earned last season. The Pittsburgh Steelers of course revamped the offensive line for 2023, with several players ahead of Anderson on the depth chart, and the data really points to this being a good situation to learn behind the experience in front of him and hopefully hone his craft for possible opportunities in the future.
One of his best qualities was durability, along with versatility, but he was near or at the bottom of the drafted interior lineman in terms of quality, though PFF graded his pass blocking overall at a more average level. While he will likely not make a substantial impact right away barring injuries (knocks on wood), I’m interested to see how things progress for Anderson his rookie year and beyond.
Throughout the rest of the offseason, I will dive deeper into the data as we continue to learn about the newest Pittsburgh Steelers. How do you think Anderson will fare his rookie year? What are some of your takeaways across the league? Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
