Along a rebuilt offensive line in Pittsburgh, the Steelers remain without a true backup center — for now.
That might not seem like a huge position of need, but it’s an important one overall for the Steelers, especially from a depth perspective.
While it might be a glaring hole on the roster, at least on paper, second-year offensive line coach Pat Meyer is comfortable with where the Steelers are with the backup center position. He told reporters Wednesday that the team has “four or five” options to be the backup center.
Presumably, Meyer means Kendrick Green, James Daniels, Nate Herbig, Ryan McCollum and rookie Spencer Anderson.
“We have a bunch of guys right now. KG’s [Kendrick Green] in there; KG’s backing up center right now. Obviously James can play center, Nate’s in there working reps. We have a bunch of guys that are able to do that, which is fortunate,” Meyer said to reporters, according to audio provided by the Steelers’ PR department. “Sometimes you’re like, ‘Man, a backup, who’s a third?’ We have four or five different guys that we have combinations with that, that can play that position. So we’re fortunate in that respect that we have guys that have played that spot before and that can handle it, and handle it mentally too.”
The Steelers do have some options on the roster with Green, who started 15 games at center as a rookie, but was largely a disaster, leading to the Steelers signing veteran Mason Cole last offseason. That kicked Green back to guard, where he played in college. Green is now getting reps at second-team center and seems more comfortable there entering Year 3.
Daniels has experience at center in the NFL, but he’s firmly entrenched at right guard. Should an injury occur to Cole in-game, it wouldn’t be wise to move Daniels to center and have to fill two holes instead of one. Herbig is the most obvious answer overall, even though he has just 49 career snaps at center in the NFL. He’s going to be the swing interior guy, and if he shows he can handle center in a larger role in training camp and the preseason, the Steelers likely would be comfortable having him as the true backup to Cole.
As for McCollum and Anderson, there’s a lot of projecting there. McCollum was with the Steelers last season and is familiar with Meyer’s teaching, but he’s a long shot to be the No. 2 center. Same for Anderson, though he played all five positions on the offensive line in college and is a great athlete for his size.
We’ll see how things shake out in training camp and the preseason at the backup center position. While Meyer might feel comfortable overall with the options in place for him at the pivot, it would be a good idea for the Steelers to go out and get that true backup, veteran center like they’ve had in recent seasons with J.C. Hassenauer and B.J. Finney.
