Kendrick Green won’t become the next great Pittsburgh Steelers like the team hoped he would when they drafted him in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. But he might not be pushed off the roster just yet. In the latest edition of Steelers.com Bob Labriola’s Asked and Answered segment, he was asked (and answered) about Green’s status going forward. In Labriola’s view, Green may be the de facto backup center choice.
Here’s what he wrote:
“Right now, I believe Kendrick Green is the best and maybe only realistic option for the role of backup center at the start of the regular season. Nate Herbig has played some center, and while that has happened mostly in the preseason but never for the Steelers, now he has an injured shoulder that has kept him out of practice and most likely the second preseason game.”
He goes on to mention Spencer Anderson is just a rookie and that while James Daniels played center at Iowa, he’s yet to see a snap there in his two seasons with Pittsburgh. In camp, Green ran as the second-team center for a chunk of the time, though Nate Herbig siphoned away those reps during the latter half of the summer. In the preseason opener, Green worked as the second-team center before giving way to Herbig. According to our charting from Tom Mead, Green logged 27 snaps at center while Herbig received nine.
Dealing with a minor shoulder injury, Tomlin essentially ruled Herbig out for tonight’s game against the Buffalo Bills, meaning Green should see plenty of snaps in the middle. With a quick turnaround for the preseason finale, next Thursday, Herbig will have to return to practice soon in order to be ready for the third exhibition game.
Labriola went on to say the team “maybe reached for Green in the third round,” which is sorta like saying “the Titanic maybe hit an iceberg” – you can take the “maybe” out of it – but that he still thinks Green has a puncher’s chance of sticking on the roster in 2023. If Green sticks, he would be the eighth offensive lineman and active on gamedays. He could potentially also play fullback, an idea the team has successfully toyed with in practice, but did not deploy against Tampa Bay. With injuries up front, it may be harder to give Green that chance tonight.
The only other center option on the roster is Ryan McCollum, who has taken a fair amount of snaps there in practice, but his odds of making the 53 don’t look appealing. As Dave Bryan has suggested, the Steelers may go outside the organization to find Mason Cole’s backup. Options seem relatively thin, they usually are for teams in search of skilled offensive linemen, but Houston’s Jimmy Morrissey still makes sense. Kenny Pickett’s center at Pitt, there’s chemistry between the two. Though the Texans lost center Scott Quessenberry for the year, they drafted Penn State’s Juice Scruggs in the second round and took Notre Dame’s Jarrett Patterson on Day Three, which could squeeze Morrissey out of a job. He comes with NFL experience, over 300 snaps, and is a logical fit.
Still, backup center is one of a handful of positions the team must sort out over these next two weeks. The same can be said about finalizing spots and roles at slot corner, along the defensive line, and a possible fifth safety.
