It’s hard to find a spot on the roster in which the Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t clearly upgraded or at least reasonably maintained what they had a year ago. One spot that is a question mark, however, is the backup center position, where one may fairly question if they have somebody who can play it as well as J.C. Hassenauer had—which is not even the highest bar to clear.
That’s not to say they lack for talented reserve interior linemen like Kevin Dotson and Nate Herbig. The problem is that they’re either guard-tackle, guard-only, or guard-heavy players. Or Kendrick Green.
One player trying to make himself a possibility is rookie seventh-rounder Spencer Anderson, who’s played every line position in camp, and played three in the preseason opener. He started a handful of games at center earlier in his college career, though most of his experience is a tackle and guard, leaving his current teammates to wonder why he’s lining up at center at times.
“Some of the guys are like, ‘What are you doing?’”, he said, via Amanda Godsey. “I’m like, ‘Chill, chill, I got it’, and then they’re like, ‘Okay, my bad’. They don’t believe I can snap it. It’s right on the money every time. I feel like you just kind of let it go right in between your legs and it’s good”.
It’s not quite that simple, of course. Just ask Maurkice Pouncey. Or James Harrison, for that matter. If all you had to do was aim between the middle of your legs, we would find a lot more versatile linemen. Perhaps Anderson is just selling himself short in that regard if he can handle center.
Anderson logged 37 snaps in the preseason opener and did fine for himself, overall. When you consider the fact that he played both left and right guard as well as right tackle in spite of the fact that he most recently practiced primarily at tackle, it’s all the more commendable.
But he did not get a look at center, which may be the easiest place for him to earn a roster spot, though he can certainly compete for the fourth tackle job against Le’Raven Clark. There are things about playing center he’s still figuring out, though, if he is to play there more substantially.
“The only thing that’s hard about it is when you have a shade on you, like somebody’s on your snap hand, but every center has a different way of dealing with that”, Anderson said.
Overall, the Steelers’ rookie class has held up well during its first training camp. The only blemish is the season-ending knee injury for seventh-round CB Cory Trice Jr., who by all accounts was having a good offseason and was trending toward making the roster. Anderson can be a part of that success story if he continues in this trajectory.
