With training camp just around the corner, it’s time to turn our focus on what is going on within each position, and on the roster as a whole. Over the course of the next few weeks, we will be taking a closer look at some of the roster battles that we expect to see unfold over the course of training camp as the Pittsburgh Steelers prepare for the start of the 2023 season.
This year, there will be no quarterback competition overshadowing everything that goes on at Latrobe, but there will still be plenty of battles to sift through, both in the starting lineup and in depth. The Steelers added many new faces this offseason, rookie and veteran alike, and it’s in training camp that we begin to see where all the pieces fit.
Position: Offensive Tackle
Up for Grabs: Depth
In the Mix: Le’Raven Clark, Spencer Anderson, Jarrid Williams, Dylan Cook
Overall, the Steelers are not particularly deep at the offensive tackle position, balanced out by the fact that the top end of the depth chart is strong with Dan Moore Jr., Chukwuma Okorafor, and Broderick Jones. But who would the fourth tackle be?
Most of the options are rookies or first-year players with varying levels of experience playing tackle, unless you want to include Nate Herbig in the mix. For the time being, I don’t plan to, because I think he’ll have enough on his plate working at guard and center.
The only experienced veteran of the group is Le’Raven Clark, who is more or less the equivalent of last year’s Trent Scott, with one decided advantage and one decided disadvantage. The disadvantage is that, unlike Scott, he’ll be learning a new offensive system. The advantage is that, mercifully, he isn’t competing for the swing tackle role—barring injury anyway.
He could end up making the roster be default if the Steelers feel strongly about carrying four tackle-capable linemen and don’t feel strongly about the other candidates. The most interesting name is rookie seventh-round pick Spencer Anderson.
Anderson has experience playing every line position in college, with a good deal of work at tackle. Yet it seems as though the Steelers were focusing on him playing center during the spring, perhaps feeling that was his clearest path to a roster spot if he could win the backup job there over Kendrick Green (and perhaps Herbig, and Ryan McCollum).
The only other options are Jarrid Williams and Dylan Cook, a pair of first-year linemen who at least look the part. Both are 6-foot-6 and weight north of 300 pounds. Cook is interesting if only for the fact that he converted from quarterback in college to play on the offensive line.
Not even Alejandro Villanueva can say that. But he is a more developmental option for the practice squad. If it came down to him as the ninth lineman, the Steelers would probably just keep eight on the 53-man roster and build out the rest on the practice squad.
