Player: OL Spencer Anderson
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: A second-year offensive lineman, Spencer Anderson is battling for one of the last spots on the 53-man roster. He made the team last year as a seventh-round rookie, but the Steelers stocked up on linemen this offseason. While he has an uphill battle to make the team, he appears to be fighting valiantly to retain his job.
Last year, the Steelers traded two veteran offensive linemen at least in small part due to the fact that they liked what they had in two young ones. That included 2023 seventh-round pick Spencer Anderson, who served as the eighth lineman his rookie season.
Anderson is facing odds that are at least as steep as last season, though, with the Steelers drafting three offensive linemen. While they released Chukwuma Okorafor and Mason Cole, the rest of the group remains. And Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier, and Mason McCormick don’t look like they’re going anywhere.
The Steelers are trying to get a long look at Spencer Anderson this year, having moved him to guard. Last year, he played all five positions, increasing his chances of making the team. Now they want to get a sense of his ceiling, letting him specialize in one spot.
So far, he has been sharing duties with Mason McCormick filling in at first-team left guard duties when Isaac Seumalo gets rest periods. But he is seeing the vast bulk of that time, and Alex Kozora notes him throwing some nice blocks. On Saturday, he took the first-team left guard reps with Seumalo resting and then worked second-team right guard. He is getting a ton of work, making his way back and forth between the first two lines.
One thing is abundantly clear: if Spencer Anderson doesn’t make the 53-man roster, it won’t be because the Steelers haven’t seen enough of him. He is probably taking more snaps than anybody else in the entirety of camp, and he’s happy to do so. The only real question, in my opinion, is if he starts taking any of those snaps at tackle.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
