Versatile Steelers lineman Spencer Anderson will start at guard in season opener against Atlanta

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Spencer Anderson was an underclassman at Maryland when one of his coaches approached him to talk about how injuries had started to pile up along the offensive line.

The conversation ended with a request that sounded an awful lot like an order. How interested would Anderson be in moving from tackle to center in the best interests of the team?

The answer was probably more candid than Anderson probably should have been in the moment.

“I was like, ‘But I’m a tackle,'” Anderson said.

Emphasis on “was.”

Anderson moonlighted as a center for a bit before the Terrapins shifted him to guard as a senior in 2022. To Anderson's surprise, he found working in close quarters a little more fun. No speedy edge rushers to worry about. Just another big guy across the line of scrimmage to mash.

“It’s less space inside, everything happens faster,” Anderson said.

The Pittsburgh Steelers saw enough to take a flyer on Anderson in the seventh round of the 2023 draft and he's spent the past 16 months lining up wherever, whenever. It's a path that will lead Anderson to his first NFL start when he fills in at left guard for the injured Isaac Seumalo when the new-look Steelers open at Atlanta on Sunday.

Heady territory for a player who realized he had to check his ego at the door long ago.

“Obviously I'm going to capitalize on every opportunity that I'm given,” Anderson said. “Just being ready, light on my feet and ready to work.”

Players taken with the 251st overall pick as Anderson was don't really have a choice. The Steelers have moved him up and down both sides of the line during practice and in preseason games, including a handful of snaps at tackle, where Pittsburgh is in theory loaded with Dan Moore Jr., 2023 first-rounder Broderick Jones (taken 237 spots ahead of Anderson) and 2024 first-rounder Troy Fautanu, who has been slowed by a knee injury.

While the status of what exactly the line is going to look like against the Falcons is up in the air — Jones is listed at right tackle and Moore at left on the depth chart, though there's a chance Jones could move from left to right if Fautanu is healthy enough to play — Anderson appears to be locked in to line up next to rookie center Zach Frazier for an offense with a lot of moving parts.

Anderson wants to be a steadying presence in the short term. He can be a funny one too. He drew laughs in the preseason opener against Houston when he was shoved before the snap, drawing an offside call. The 6-foot-5, 320-pounder backpedaled then rolled onto the ground, popped up briefly then dramatically collapsed again, like an oversized soccer player taking a dive.

“I was going backward. I was like, ‘Might as well don’t fall at this point,’” Anderson said with a smile. “So it was just kind of instinctual.”

There were no Oscars handed out afterward, only a slight rebuke from assistant offensive line coach Isaac Williams, who told Anderson “I understand this, but don't do that again.'”

And he hasn't. Anderson is well-versed in the thin line between success and failure in the NFL. It's one of the reasons the player who once thought he was strictly a tackle — the highest profile and at the pro level typically the highest-paid position along the line — spent the offseason studying film of the nuances at every position.

“Being able to flip sides is something that I take seriously,” he said. “And something that I guess is specialization (in its own right).”

Coach Mike Tomlin has noticed. Anderson's versatility is what helped him land a spot on the 53-man roster. His growth is one of the reasons Tomlin trusts Anderson in what is a pretty high-stakes start for the Steelers, who completely changed their quarterback room after another first-round playoff exit and brought in Russell Wilson from Denver to lead an offense that has served as an anchor in recent years.

Asked about where he's seen Anderson improve since arriving in Pittsburgh, Tomlin drew a comparison to longtime NFLer Kelvin Beachum, who began his career with the Steelers as a seventh-round pick in 2012 before eventually becoming a starter in Jacksonville, with the New York Jets and Arizona.

“Versatility was initially his calling card, and then he settled into the tackle position and, went on to shoot, you know, Beach might still be playing. I think he is," Tomlin said with a laugh of Beachum, who begins his 13th season in the league on Sunday when the Cardinals play at Buffalo. “And so Spence will be fortunate if he has a Kelvin Beachum-like story.”

The chance to write the first chapter awaits.

NOTES: Tomlin described Seumalo as “week to week” with a pec injury and indicated Seumalo avoided a serious setback when he was hurt during practice last week. ... RB Jaylen Warren (hamstring), WR Roman Wilson (ankle) and CB Cory Trice (groin) could be available against the Falcons.

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Will Graves, The Associated Press