With the Steelers’ 2023 regular season about underway following a disappointing year that came up just short of reaching the playoffs, it’s time to start finding out whether or not the answers to last year’s questions are on the roster, tested all throughout training camp and the preseason.
Both sides of the ball got key additions through both free agency and the draft, with new starters, including potentially rookies, amounting to half a dozen or more. The offensive line, the linebackers, and the secondary were all key targets since last year. But what will they look like?
These sorts of uncertainties are what I will look to address in our Buy or Sell series. In each installment, I will introduce a topic statement and weigh some of the arguments for either buying it (meaning that you agree with it or expect it to be true) or selling it (meaning you disagree with it or expect it to be false).
Topic Statement: Kendrick Green will make the 53-man roster following the Kevin Dotson trade.
Explanation: Even the most optimistic Kendrick Green fan probably did not feel good about the prospects of him making the 53-man roster in a scenario in which Kevin Dotson was still there. It always felt throughout this offseason that it could always been one or the other—or neither—but not both. Now that Dotson is gone, that is one fewer NFL-caliber offensive lineman standing in his way. This is about what you think will in fact happen, not what you believe should happen.
Buy:
I think we can start with the fact that the coaching staff has always liked Kendrick Green more than the fans have, at least as an offensive lineman. The fans briefly loved him this summer when he was putting undrafted OLB Toby Ndukwe on his butt playing as a fullback, but that’s about it. He’s more popular in the building than outside of it. That fact can’t be dismissed lightly.
Then there’s the fact that the Steelers lack for centers with NFL experience. Green is by no means a great center, but who’s to say Nate Herbig can play center well in an NFL game? Or rookie Spencer Anderson, who is primarily a tackle? Or how about Ryan McCollum, with no NFL experience who did not work his way up the depth charts during training camp?
Sell:
The Steelers gave Kendrick Green every conceivable opportunity this summer to try to earn himself a roster spot. That doesn’t mean he did. And, well, he didn’t. There was only perhaps one point this offseason in which he looked good, and that was in the series of training camp practices after his awful preseason debut.
I mean, look. He played poorly. He demonstrated the same problems that caused him to lose his starting job as a rookie, a backup job in his second year two, and now, in year three, his spot on the 53-man roster altogether. Maybe he sticks on the practice squad, but there are better options for the ninth lineman role than Green, no matter how much the coaches might like him.
