Steelers News

Spencer Anderson Next Man Up at LG for Steelers, Will Make First Career Start

Published

1 month ago

September 3, 2024

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Spencer Anderson running out of the tunnel before a preseason game against the Houston Texans on Aug. 9, 2024. -- Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin confirmed during his Tuesday press conference that second-year offensive lineman Spencer Anderson will start at left guard in Sunday’s season opener against the Atlanta Falcons. Anderson will fill in for veteran Isaac Seumalo, who suffered a pectoral injury during last Wednesday’s practice. He is expected to be out 3-4 weeks.

“Yes, he is,” Tomlin simply stated when asked if Anderson is the next man up at left guard. Sunday will be Anderson’s first career start.

Anderson, who played all over the line as a rookie last season, mostly honed in on the guard position this training camp and thrived, playing his best football in a Steelers uniform. The Steelers are also high on rookie Mason McCormick, a longtime starter at South Dakota State who played a ton of college football and is very experienced for a rookie.

Tomlin compared Anderson’s trajectory to former Steelers and current Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Kelvin Beachum. Like Anderson, Beachum was also a seventh-round selection by the Steelers.

“His versatility was a calling card that allowed him to sustain, but the longer he’s here, you’d better specialize in a certain area,” Tomlin said of Anderson. “Really his growth and development kind of reminds me a lot of Kelvin Beachum, if you remember years ago. Versatility was kind of his calling card, but then he settled into the tackle position and went on to — Beach might still be playing. I think he is. Spence will be fortunate if he has a Kelvin Beachum-like story.”

The Steelers drafted Anderson out of the University of Maryland with the 251st overall pick in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft. After making the Steelers initial 53-man active roster due to his versatility, Anderson stayed on the roster all year as the team’s eight offensive lineman. Anderson played one offensive snap in the each of the team’s games against the Baltimore Ravens. He made his NFL Debut in Week 4 against the Houston Texans, logging two snaps on special teams.

Pittsburgh Steelers OL Spencer Anderson at practice on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

The Falcons run a 3-4 defense, so Anderson will have no defensive lineman over him for the most part. But when the Falcons go to their sub-packages, he’ll be matched up against defensive tackles David Onyemata, Ruke Orhorhoro, Zach Harrison and James Smith-Williams. Onyemata is the starting nose tackle.

Over his five seasons at Maryland, Anderson appeared in 44 games and logged 32 starts for the Terps. Anderson played all five positions along the offensive line for the Terps in his career.

Anderson allowed just two sacks on 847 offensive snaps in his final season as a Terp.

Along with Anderson, second-year offensive tackle Broderick Jones and rookie center Zach Frazier will also start on the Steelers’ starting offensive line on Sunday. Tomlin is not worried about the inexperienced component.

“There’s a lot of meat on that growth bone, and we’ve seen a lot of it, to be quite honest with you, for several reasons. We had some young guys that drafted high in the Draft and showed the NFL is not too big for them, and I imagine they’ll continue to show that and continue to grow with exposure,” Tomlin said. “But we’ve also got some second-year players like Broderick and Spencer, and that second lap around the track, it’s reasonable to expect growth and development because of the knowing component. So we’ve challenged them in that regard, and they’ve responded. “We’ve got some talented young people, so it makes for an exciting mix.”

Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.