Up until the Pittsburgh Steelers’ very last day of training camp practice at Saint Vincent College, their center depth chart was going to be some combination of Zach Frazier and Nate Herbig. Frazier was likely to supplant Herbig as the starter, if not by Week 1 then shortly after. Unfortunately, Herbig suffered a season-ending shoulder injury on the final day of training camp that threw a wrench in the Steelers’ plans. As a result, C Ryan McCollum made the initial 53-man roster as the backup center.
This move indicates that rookie OG Mason McCormick needs more time to be ready at multiple positions and that the Steelers valued the experience of McCollum over the versatility of the others. Maybe if Herbig’s injury happened a little earlier in camp, they could have gotten McCormick the necessary reps to feel comfortable with him as the backup center, but the timing did not leave many opportunities for that to happen.
Here are the center snaps played by McCormick, McCollum, and Spencer Anderson in college, NFL preseason, and NFL regular season, for an idea of the experience.
| Player | College | NFL Pre | NFL Reg |
| Ryan McCollum | 847 | 200 | 100 |
| Spencer Anderson | 382 | 5 | 0 |
| Mason McCormick | 15 | 9 | 0 |
Anderson had a little more experience in college, but those five center snaps in the NFL preseason came in 2023. The Steelers did not get him any preseason work at center, indicating it was going to either be McCollum or McCormick.
Until Herbig’s injury, the only centers who had played in the preseason were Frazier, Herbig, and McCollum. They managed to get McCormick nine center snaps in the preseason finale against the Detroit Lions. His play was solid overall, but it is still not a great position to be in to have a rookie starting center and a rookie backup center with the backup having next to zero meaningful center experience.
It’s not like McCollum has a ton of experience, but he played the position a lot in college and has been in the league since 2021 with far more preseason and regular-season experience than the alternatives.
McCollum played 43 preseason snaps at center this year and received a 59.3 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, including a solid 79.0 as a pass blocker. He allowed zero pressures.
Hopefully we aren’t talking about a Frazier injury and McCollum being the starting center, but as of right now, he would likely be the one put into the game if Frazier misses time. OT Dylan Cook is currently on IR with a designation to return. Once he returns after the minimum of four games required on IR, it is entirely possible the team is more comfortable with McCormick as the backup center, making McCollum expendable. If he does eventually get cut, it seems likely they could stash him on the practice squad once again.
For now, it is a pretty cool story for a 2022 Steelers waiver claim who spent most of the 2022 and 2023 seasons on their practice squad to finally see his name on the 53-man roster.
