The Pittsburgh Steelers claimed to be comfortable with Mason Rudolph at quarterback heading into the 2022 offseason. Then they quickly signed Mitch Trubisky during free agency and drafted Kenny Pickett in the first round. That’s about how comfortable I suspect they are this offseason with Nate Herbig at center.
While they talked up their belief in Rudolph at the time, they also acknowledged the inevitable competition. And Herbig certainly knows he’s not going to be the only candidate for the center position. They have a hole there as a result of releasing C Mason Cole. And general manager Omar Khan isn’t limiting the size of the net he intends to cast.
“We feel good about Nate Herbig, but if there’s an opportunity to bring some good competition in, we’re gonna do it”, he told reporters last week at the NFL Scouting Combine. In acknowledging Herbig’s ability to play center, he added, “That’s not to say that we’re not gonna take a look in free agency and the trade market and the draft process. There’s some good players in every one of those [routes]. This is a good [year to need a] center. We feel good about the center draft, feel good about the center free agents.”
There are quite a few centers hitting free agency this offseason, though likely some remain with their teams. Many regard Connor Williams as one of the top names, but reportedly Lloyd Cushenberry III’s stock continues to rise.
The center position also finds strong representation in the 2024 NFL Draft class. Many Steelers fans already have their eyes on Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson as a potential first-round candidate. The last first-round pick they used on a center worked out pretty well for them and Maurkice Pouncey.
Powers-Johnson is far from the only starter-worthy center prospect, however. West Virginia produced Zach Frazier, and you also have another Broderick Jones teammate in Sedrick Van Pran-Granger out of Georgia. We will get a clearer picture as we get closer to the draft as well.
“We’re looking at everything. We have a need, but we have Nate Herbig, and we have some other players that have some flexibility”, Khan said in Indianapolis. “But we’re gonna look at everything. I don’t want to just say we’re gonna do it in the draft or just free agency. We owe it to ourselves to look at it all”.
I doubt anybody actually thought the Steelers would just say, “We have Nate Herbig, we’re good for centers”. Khan’s comments also have a certain generic quality expressing an all-options-on-the-table mentality.
Regardless, this is a big hole to fill. The Steelers need to complete their offensive line. They determined they needed to upgrade from Cole. Herbig is not that answer. But he is an emergency option in the event the offseason doesn’t unfold the way they hope.
