Have you ever watched two dogs fight over one bone before? It’s quite a sight to see how two friends can immediately turn on one another when both must compete for the same thing, knowing only one is going to walk away with the prize.
This isn’t to say that OL Kendrick Green and Spencer Anderson are best friends or that they both are going to go rabid on each other, but both guys find themselves in a similar position like two dogs fighting for one bone, except for Anderson and Green, the “bone” being Pittsburgh’s final OL roster spot.
The Steelers normally carry 8-9 offensive linemen on their regular-season roster, and currently have plenty of depth prior to the start of mandatory minicamp. Broderick Jones, Dan Moore Jr., and Chukwuma Okorafor are set as this team’s top three OTs. James Daniels and Isaac Seumalo are locked in as this team’s starting OGs with Nate Herbig and Kevin Dotson backing them up. Mason Cole is entrenched as Pittsburgh’s starting C in 2023, thus accounting for eight OL and only one realistic spot available.
While another spot on the active roster could be opened up with a Dotson trade before the regular season or a potential injury, it’s beginning to look like a showdown between Anderson and Green for Pittsburgh’s OL9 spot, and that’s assuming they decide to keep nine OL. Ryan McCollum may be a dark horse for the spot himself as a backup center but given Green’s draft pedigree and the investment Pittsburgh made in drafting Anderson this season, it’s safe to say those two are the current favorites for that final roster spot.
Seeing as Pittsburgh currently has three tackles and four guards on the roster, keeping a backup center makes the most sense for that OL9 spot. That works in the favor of both Green and Anderson as Green spent his entire rookie season as this team’s C, starting all 15 games that he played in 2021. Anderson started five games at center during his time in college and impressed his new Steelers teammates with his ability to snap the football thus far OTAs.
Outside of playing at the pivot, both guys offer positional versatility, but Anderson has the advantage as he has extensive experience playing OT and OG in college while Green has only played C and OG. Still, Green has two years of NFL experience on Anderson, having significant game action under his belt (977 offensive snaps). On the other hand, Anderson is new and is coming in with a fresh start whereas Green has been under fire since his rookie season, being thrust into the starting job at C which he wasn’t ready for.
Whoever doesn’t make the roster will likely end up on the practice squad unless poached by another team. Anderson could offer more as not only the team’s backup C, but also be the team’s break-the-glass OT4 behind either Jones or Moore, one of whom will be the swing guy. However, part of me expects Pittsburgh to give Green the opportunity to win that backup starting job given his exposure there as a rookie rather than relying on a seventh-round pick with five collegiate starts at C to step in and see extensive time should Cole go down. That scenario would put Anderson in the exact same situation Green found himself in during his rookie year as a young, underdeveloped rookie.
While this upcoming battle between Green and Anderson may be for Pittsburgh’s final OL spot on the roster, it will be a key battle to watch. Daniels and Herbig have experience playing C, but the Steelers likely wouldn’t want to move Daniels from his RG spot and completely change up the OL barring an injury. Thus, picking the right player to play behind Cole will be imperative for Pittsburgh, which benefitted from great health along the OL last season but will need either Anderson or Green to be ready to step in if called upon in 2023.
