The Steelers Have a Backup Center Problem

UNITY TWP., Pa. — The Steelers have a serious problem at backup center. After Friday, in a game where Kendrick Green struggled to have any consistency, the team is left looking for options. One of those guys could be Nate Herbig, but right now, they still do not have a true, clear option on the roster that makes a lot of sense with Green seemingly hitting the pavement.

Green lacked the juice he had coming into this one, not snapping once at fullback but playing fully at backup center. Instead of inspiring confidence, Green made a case that the Steelers should be looking for external options for the backup center position. He was pushed back a number of times, had a blown assignment, and had an errant snap all on top of it. Green was the most obvious loser on the day. It did not go the way he wanted it to go.

Matt Canada noted that the fullback snaps were more of an experiment to see what guys could do. But that Green was the team’s backup center. That could signal that if he can not stay there and play at a high level, Green could be on the outside looking in moving forward.

“Kendrick’s a center for us, and he’s got something else that maybe he does well,” Canada said. “This is a time for experiments and to look at different things. That happened last year, and so we are exploring a lot of different things to be as prepared as we can for whatever might come our way.”

Someone that can play center and has been versatile in rookie lineman Spencer Anderson. However, the team has not played him there yet this season. Canada is open to that becoming a possibility, as Anderson has already played at the other four spots along the offensive line.

“Spencer can snap the ball, and we’re looking at right now and I’m not sure if we’ll get to that,” Canada said. “But his versatility is real, so when you start to look at things and you get down to those last spots, that’s valuable. We know Spencer can snap, so we are not direct on that, but it is certainly a possibility we get to that.”

Regardless of where Anderson stands, backup center remains the most likely position the Steelers could look to add someone from the outside from during the last cutdowns. Omar Khan added Malik Reed and Jesse Davis last year to help alleviate some depth concerns, and it seems likely he will do the same at other positions this year as well.