Pittsburgh Steelers Exit Meeting: OL Spencer Anderson
Experience: 2 Years
Pittsburgh Steelers fans tend to forget about Spencer Anderson—including myself, without realizing it. Just yesterday, I wrote that the team had drafted four linemen over the past two years, but they had drafted five. Spencer Anderson was a 2023 seventh-round pick, so perhaps we might be forgiven for forgetting.
However, good rosters are built by hitting on late-round depth pieces, and the Steelers did that with Anderson. He doesn’t fit the bill as a “starter in waiting”, as unrealistic fans prefer, but he is a capable player, and he showed that last season.
It might not be obvious to you, but Anderson logged over 300 offensive snaps for the Steelers last season. That included making four starts and beginning the season at left guard while Isaac Seumalo was injured. He also started the Steelers’ playoff game at right guard with Mason McCormick injured.
Of course, McCormick plays a key part in this story as well. The fifth lineman the Steelers drafted in the past two years, he is likely their future right guard. But the Steelers entered the 2024 season with Spencer Anderson ahead of him. They started making the switch in Week 3 or so and ultimately chose McCormick to take over for James Daniels when the latter went down with a season-ending injury.
It was the right call, but Anderson gives the Steelers valuable, versatile depth. He can play center, guard, tackle, and serve as an extra lineman. Plug him in anywhere, and he can help out, like Trai Essex way back when.
In fact, it’s too early to put any kind of cap on his ceiling, really. He may not be a starter in waiting right now, but who’s to say he won’t start eventually? Seumalo isn’t going to play forever, and Anderson wouldn’t be the Steelers’ first late-round success. Including undrafted guys, they turned Ramon Foster, Kelvin Beachum, Matt Feiler, and Alejandro Villanueva into quality starters.
The bottom line is that Anderson has already exceeded expectations for the average seventh-round pick. That doesn’t mean whatever he does for the rest of his career is gravy because the Steelers need him. Unless they further bolster their depth, he could be a top backup in 2025. They could re-sign Nate Herbig, which would help.
The 2024 season was the first time the Steelers let Anderson focus on one position, growing at guard. Will they continue to let him mature into just one spot, or will they maximize his versatility instead? They will need a backup tackle in 2025, after all, with Dan Moore Jr. headed for free agency.
The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves at home, the inevitable result of another early playoff exit. This is a repeated pattern for the organization, with no clear end in sight. As the Steelers conduct their own exit meetings, we will go down the roster conducting our own. Who should stay, and who should go, and how? Who should expect a bigger role next season, and who might deserve a new contract? We’ll explore those questions and more in these articles, part of an annual series.
