After having nearly flawless health over the last two seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line has experienced a rash of injuries so far in 2024.
Nate Herbig was lost for the season, Isaac Seumalo missed the first few games and maybe more with a pec injury, and Troy Fautanu could now be lost for the season. This has implications for the rest of the group, and perhaps none more affected than OG Spencer Anderson.
Entering the season as a backup, Anderson has started the first three games for the Steelers. He was primarily a backup tackle last season, but made the move to full-time guard this offseason. It would now appear that he is being asked to prepare at tackle once again.
TribLive’s Chris Adamski summarized on X some of what Anderson told the media during Monday’s session.
“Spencer Anderson said that once Troy Fautanu went down with injury that he was told to start taking reps at right tackle — just to be ready,” Adamski wrote. “He’s not sure of the plan going forward after Isaac Seumalo comes back.”
Seumalo was never placed on IR, and thus was not required to miss a minimum of four games. That indicated that they didn’t believe he would miss four games, which would mean he is potentially available for the Week 4 game against the Indianapolis Colts. Steelers beat reporter Ray Fittipaldo recently said he “expects” Seumalo to be back for the upcoming game.
Broderick Jones will be the starting right tackle, but his struggles have been well-documented. He had a solid showing against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 3, but consistency has been an issue for him this year. With Dylan Cook on IR, there is no great plan for backup tackle. It makes sense that Anderson would be the swing tackle moving forward given his experience there last season and the return of Seumalo. That is especially the case with Mason McCormick making his debut against the Chargers and playing well. He can be the backup guard while Anderson is the backup tackle.
In his NFL career, Anderson has played 191 snaps at left guard and one as a tackle-eligible extra blocker. He also played 1,113 tackle snaps in college.
Fortunately for the Steelers, they spent five draft picks over the last two years on offensive linemen. That includes Anderson, who figures to be a valuable and versatile backup piece for the team the rest of the season once Seumalo returns.
