It was a notable sports day for the city of Pittsburgh yesterday. The Pittsburgh Penguins have been making a late-season push for the playoffs after things looked bleak just a month ago. They ultimately lost the game to the Boston Bruins, but their playoff chances still hang in the balance with a couple of games to go—reminiscent of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season. A large contingent of notable Pittsburgh sports figures were in attendance at the game last night, but one was particularly interesting to me. Russell Wilson posted a photo with second-year OL Spencer Anderson on Instagram, shared by Brian Batko on X.
Anderson was the team’s seventh-round draft pick a year ago. He didn’t see the field much, with just two offensive snaps, but reports have indicated that he was a solid player in practice behind the scenes. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette insider Ray Fittipaldo suggested back in February that Anderson should not be discounted as an option at right tackle for this season.
“They really liked what Anderson showed them at tackle in training camp last year,” Fittipaldo noted during his chat in February.
This obviously hasn’t prevented the team from exploring the tackle class in this year’s draft. Of the 33 reported pre-draft visits so far, five of which are local prospects and don’t count against the 30-visit limit, seven have been offensive tackles. A majority of those tackle prospects have been right tackles. But if the team gets in a situation where they can’t grab a right tackle that they like in the first round and have to wait until later in the draft, then Anderson could be an option that would accomplish the goal of moving Broderick Jones back to the left side where Omar Khan said he will eventually end up.
Anderson and Wilson weren’t the only two Steelers at the game. Various other Pittsburgh sports figures were in attendance. The Penguins account on X posted this photo with Wilson, Troy Polamalu, Brett Keisel, and Damar Hamlin.
Still, it is somewhat notable that Anderson is bonding with the presumed starting quarterback of the team. Wilson has been described as distant to his teammates in the past, with Marshawn Lynch claiming he didn’t even have Wilson’s phone number from their days together in Seattle. Wilson appears to be making a concerted effort to bond with his teammates and endear himself to the city of Pittsburgh. Reports have already indicated that the Steelers and Wilson have mutual interest in a contract extension after this season.
