For the rest of the summer, we’ll give a position-by-position, player-by-player recap of what I saw during the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers training camp and preseason games. This list is based off the 16 public camp practices and the preseason games I’ve watched to this point. It’s based solely off their performance over that span and does not necessarily represent my feelings for the player over the course of the regular season.
A heads up, I intend on using the full grading scale through these reports. Not just giving players A’s to C’s. It may sound harsh but it’s as honest and fair as I can be.
Today, finishing the offensive and o-line with the interior group, the guards and centers.
Mason McCormick
Was pleasantly surprised by McCormick’s first camp. A small schooler needing to adjust to the NFL level and o-line coach Pat Meyer’s teachings, I suspected it could be a rough camp. I was wrong. McCormick quickly picked things up and looked comfortable in the flat/aggressive on and off-body sets Meyer uses. Not all of his technique has changed, still using the skip pull instead of the more-common square pull.
But overall, McCormick looked great. He flashed in camp and is country strong, once stalling out three straight Logan Lee bull rushes. He graduated to see Cam Heyward, who worked him over, but it was a great moment to get a look at the NFL’s best (kind of a Goku fights Jiren for the first time for my total geeks out there).
McCormick kept it rolling in the preseason, and I’d argue he’s been the Steelers’ best lineman of the preseason, even slightly above Zach Frazier. I put together a cut-up of McCormick’s top reps as a run blocker and pass protector through the first two contests.
He’s active re-fitting his hands, shows good feet, can sit in his stance, and stick and mirror. He’s also shown active eyes and a high football IQ with a strong work ethic, spending plenty of time picking Isaac Seumalo’s brain. The only negative, and it’s nit-picking, is a slightly high pad level in the run game that could use some more knee bend to maintain leverage. But overall, really happy with his work at guard and he’s seen a bit of time at center since Nate Herbig was lost for the season.
McCormick will begin the year as a backup and behind Seumalo and Daniels, could stay there all year. But 2025, with Daniels likely playing elsewhere? McCormick will be a favorite to start, only needing to show he can play on the right side in a conversation we’ll again have about a “rookie lineman flipping sides.”
Camp Grade: A-
Zach Frazier
Frazier ran second-team center throughout camp until Nate Herbig/Justin Fields’ snap issues in the preseason opener against the Houston Texans opened the door. And Frazier elevated to first-team center once Herbig was lost for the year with a shoulder injury. While it’s probably not how Pittsburgh imagined Frazier grabbing hold of the job, it’s a seamless transition.
The start of Frazier’s camp was a little rough, having issues with Montravius Adams and Breiden Fehoko in 1v1. He caught too often on bull rushes. But he’s a quick learner who rarely makes the same mistake twice and inside stadiums, he shined. He’s not an elite athlete but is quick off the ball and plays with excellent leverage. That helps him win early and shut down rushes before he can get put on his heels.
He’s a good run blocker whose strain and effort maximizes his skill set. In practice and a little bit inside stadiums, he’s pulled and been quick out of his stance. In Latrobe, he might’ve set a record for pancakes with at least three of them and probably more. You don’t see many guys getting driven into the ground at this level, but Frazier’s effort and tenacity put the likes of Payton Wilson and Jacoby Windmon down for the count.
Procedurally, he’s been clean with his snaps. Not someone who got caught doing laps in camp. OC Arthur Smith praised his prep and approach, ready to take over once Herbig unfortunately went down.
I’ve been a little skeptical of Frazier’s game and ceiling, though still fully endorsed the draft pick. I don’t think he’s going to be an elite center, but my pre-draft comp of Ben Jones still feels spot on. Frazier might even be a little better.
Camp Grade: A-
Spencer Anderson
Anderson entered camp on the outside looking in, seemingly the 10th offensive lineman for a team likely to keep nine. But with his positive play and injuries around him, he left camp squarely on the 53-man roster. No one benefitted from the five rest days veteran OG Isaac Seumalo received as much as Anderson, who took first-team left guards whenever Seumalo got the day off. Anderson would keep his second-team right guard reps, allowing him to double up.
That’s an opportunity to play a lot more than the other guys and speaks to trusting his conditioning. That carried over into the preseason, his 76 snaps through two games second-most on offense, only trailing C Zach Frazier.
It was a little disappointing to see Anderson spend most of his time at guard this camp instead of moving around like last year. Pittsburgh focused less on versatility in camp this year thanks to a deeper and stronger offensive line within the top two units (the third-team, though, was a fairly weak group). But Troy Fautanu’s injury opened the door for him to play right tackle while Nate Herbig’s injury could create time for Anderson at center.
Focusing on his play, Anderson was really solid. Well-rounded, there’s no clear weakness even if he lacks an elite trait. But he’s a good athlete with strength and looked strong in space under an Arthur Smith-system that will run more screens than the Steelers have in years. Anderson was steady in both preseason games and looks more comfortable in his second year, something you’d expect.
Overall, a strong sophomore camp with excellent swing backup potential. He could be the next man up at all three interior spots and someone who could play right tackle, though I suspect that Broderick Jones would flip from left to right if Troy Fautanu went down.
Camp Grade: B+
Isaac Seumalo
Training camp wasn’t a vacation for him but throw a couple palm trees behind him and a Mojito in his hand and Isaac Seumalo would’ve felt pretty beachy this summer. He donned a bucket hat for five of the team’s 16 practices, getting more rest days than any other Steeler despite just turning 30.
But it’s not like Seumalo needs the reps. He’s known, established, and the team’s best lineman. His rest gave more chances for the younger guys, especially Spencer Anderson. When he did practice, Seumalo occupied his usual left guard spot and had a fine camp. Strong, technically sound, and well-rounded, he enjoyed fun battles with DL Cam Heyward. While not as vocal as Pat Freiermuth or Najee Harris, Seumalo is a quiet giant, he spent plenty of time mentoring and helping the guys behind him. Most notably rookie Mason McCormick, working before and after practice with him. McCormick is built similarly to Seumalo, making them a logical pairing to link up.
Seumalo sat out the preseason opener and played the fewest snaps of the starters against Buffalo. Sometimes it feels like the team is too careful with him and more reps next to rookie Zach Frazier and Broderick Jones should he wind up at LT would be helpful but it’s not something I’ll clutch my pearls over.
Camp Grade: B
James Daniels
Daniels’ camps never seem awesome. He’s better in-game than he is during the summer. Daniels isn’t as bad as he was in 2022, where he was a wreck adjusting to Pat Meyer’s system, but not as good as 2023. Against a healthy Larry Ogunjobi, Daniels had his struggles blocking him 1v1.
The biggest thing Daniels is known for is becoming the first, and potentially only as of right now, player to wear a guardian cap in-game. Focusing on his in-game play, it was fine, Daniels apt in stunt pickup and better in pass protection than he was against Ogunjobi.
But this still feels like his final year. A hot guard market and Daniels perhaps not fitting the ideals of the Steelers, not a physical and nasty run blocker, may be the reason why Pittsburgh has shown no appetite in getting a long-term deal done with him. That’s not a camp evaluation but worth noting while I have the platform.
Camp Grade: B-
Nate Herbig
Herbig was quietly having an excellent training camp, running as first-team center every day and holding off Zach Frazier. He snapped well during practice and used his size and strength to block out NT Keeanu Benton in drills. For a moment, it looked as if he’d hold Frazier off to begin the year.
Things went downhill once Pittsburgh stepped inside stadiums. Herbig and Fields had two botched exchanges against the Houston Texans. Blame might be put more on Fields than Herbig but they’re outcomes that shouldn’t happen between two vets who saw plenty of summer work. During the following week of practices, Frazier began eating into Herbig’s first-team reps.
In the last hour of the final camp practice, Herbig sustained an injury in an o-line blocking drill in what was later revealed to be a torn rotator cuff that would cause him to miss the rest of the season. Pittsburgh placed him on IR Tuesday, rendering him ineligible to return in 2024. A free agent after the season, his future is unclear. Maybe he re-signs for cheap to stay in Pittsburgh and with his brother, but it’ll be, at best, to compete for a starting guard job.
While the game had hiccups and the injury is crushing, Herbig’s play during camp, what we base our grade off of, was still good overall.
Camp Grade: B-
Ryan McCollum
McCollum’s has received more buzz after Herbig’s injury, putting him in the mix as the backup. He still feels outside-looking-in, and his game isn’t much different. Low-level versatility to play either guard spot, though most of his work came at center this camp and during preseason action. He played pretty well against Buffalo, showing good grip strength, and he has some NFL experience with 100 snaps in Detroit in 2021.
Still, McCollum is a maxed-out practice squader/AAAA player, and if Spencer Anderson or Mason McCormick can display reliable snapping, I’d prefer them. McCollum is fine to keep on the practice squad if needed in a pinch.
Camp Grade: C+
Joey Fisher
Fisher ran third-team right guard for all of training camp. However, his first in-stadium snaps against the Houston Texans came at left guard. He’s decently athletic at the second level and got out in front of one screen during camp. There’s size and strength, a better run blocker than pass protector. He could stick around on the practice squad, as he did last season.
Camp Grade: C-
Tyler Beach
One of the least talked about players on the roster, even by me, Beach ran third-team left guard throughout the summer. I rarely had notes on him in practice though to his credit, like most of the other linemen, Beach participated in every single practice. He did show a little bit of prowess as a run blocker, driving his feet and opening a lane on a Seven Shots run.
He did okay inside stadiums, though was beaten badly late in the Bills game by a DT who swam over him. He won’t make the 53 and his odds of the practice squad are low although I won’t place them at zero.
Camp Grade: D+
