Week 1 of the 2024 regular season is finally near. After having one of the healthiest offensive lines the past few seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ luck has shifted in 2024. Injuries have occurred across the entire group, including the best player on the unit in G Isaac Seumalo.
He will miss some time with a pec strain, seemingly avoiding a potential season ending injury if it were a tear. Thanks to our own Melanie Friedlander’s expertise, we know Seumalo should be back in a month, of course opening the door for others. Spencer Anderson gets the first crack to replace Seumalo.
So, the goal today is to see what Anderson has done in the NFL to date, in anticipation of him potentially starting on Sunday. His experience is minimal, including just one regular season snap in his first two seasons in the league. In order to learn about him, we need to look at his two preseasons, not for hard conclusions but to see if there’s anything to glean.
Here are run block (RBLK) and pass block (PBLK) grades from PFF, looking at all guards in the 2023 and 2024 preseasons:
What jumps out right away for Anderson are stronger PBLK marks. Particularly his rookie 2023 season, with an 84.0 PBLK. That mark tied for 39th across both seasons out of 351 qualifying guards. This 2024 preseason, though, he landed at a much lower 66.7, slightly above the mean during the time frame.
The encouraging way to look at his run blocking is a positive trend this preseason, with a 61.1 RBLK that landed slightly below average, compared to a 51.7 RBLK in 2023. The latter ranked 280th, so good to see that jump in year two. Neither grade is awe inspiring, though, and a clear drop off from Seumalo (70.9 RBLK, 2023 regular season).
Spencer Anderson did get plenty of preseason experience, with 109 offensive snaps in 2023 and 89 in 2024. The regular season is obviously an entirely different animal. A step up in competition for Anderson and his lack of experience there concerning, along with Pittsburgh’s run first identity not aligning as cleanly with him on paper.
The other candidate that seems most likely is rookie Mason McCormick, who obviously lacks experience as well. For comparison, here are his 2024 preseason grades: 77.6 PBLK, 53.5 RBLK (90 snaps). Those numbers align closest to Anderson’s rookie campaign (84.0, 51.7). McCormick played well at times and is apparently the longer-term plan, but the data points slightly to the favor of Anderson getting the nod, as Pittsburgh is reportedly planning for.
The ultimate question is how he will fare if given the opportunity in stadiums when the games count. It looks like that could be this Sunday, and I can’t wait to see how he and Pittsburgh’s offensive line start the 2024 season. There’s no time to waste with a tough schedule on tap for Pittsburgh, and the o-line is key to the goal of the offense coming out strong. Here’s to hoping for just that.
Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
