The center position for the Pittsburgh Steelers is a sacred one. The team's offensive linemen, with notable exceptions, are largely ignored when it comes to All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections, unless it's for the man who snaps the ball for the black and gold. The Steelers have a lineage of great centers that can be traced back throughout the Super Bowl era.
The run was interrupted by Maurkice Pouncey’s retirement and the Steelers are still coming to grips with finding his replacement. Kendrick Green was a disaster as a rookie and did not last the entire season in 2021. Mason Cole was better last season, but while he is adequate, it is doubtful that he will rise to the All-Pro/Pro Bowl level that is expected from the Steelers center.
During the Super Bowl era, the Steelers’ centers appeared in 29 of 52 Pro Bowls. The guards and tackles combined have appeared in 22 and 13 of those appearances can be attributed to Hall of Famer Alan Faneca and future Hall of Famer David DeCastro. The string is even more impressive when you realize just five players account for those 29 appearances by the men in the middle of the Pittsburgh offensive line.
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The continuity has been amazing at the position starting with Ray Mansfield who became the Steelers center in 1966 and survived the Chuck Noll roster turnover to play until 1976, retiring after Super Bowl X. He turned the position over to Mike Webster who started every game at center for the Steelers from 1976 until he departed for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1988. He turned the position over to the great Dermontti Dawson who picked up the mantle and started every game at center until 1998. Pittsburgh had three centers who started nearly every game for 32 years, including back-to-back Hall of Famers in Webster and Dawson.
After the amazing continuity at the position, the Steelers did not find their next Pro Bowl center for six seasons. Jeff Hartings was not drafted like Webster and Dawson, but he was part of the Super Bowl XL victory and started 89 of 90 games for Pittsburgh after leaving the Detroit Lions in free agency. It took the Steelers four seasons this time after Hartings to find their next outstanding center in Pouncey who they drafted in 2010 in the first round. Pouncey was a fixture at center for a decade and is highly likely to be the third Steelers center in the Hall of Fame.
Pittsburgh's pattern of six seasons to find a long-term replacement for Dawson and then four for Hartings suggests that two seasons will produce the true replacement for Pouncey if the sequence holds. Pittsburgh has Cole in place to mentor a potential replacement, but if that player is coming this year, he is likely to come through the 2023 NFL draft. Andy Weidl was brought in by Omar Khan to help with the NFL Draft and rebuild in the trenches and he has done just that so far.
The Steelers will likely spend one of their three top 50 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft on an offensive tackle, but it is equally possible that picks 49, 80, or 120 is spent on a long-term answer at the center position if the right player is available. The Steelers have met with the prominent center prospects in John Michael Schmitz, Steve Avila, and Luke Wypler. They also attended the Wisconsin Badgers pro day, so it stands to reason they talked with Joe Tippman who is among the top four prospects at the position according to Pro Football Focus.
All four players have their virtues and are ranked between 47th and 66th on the PFF Big Board. Many fans and prognosticators are assuming the Steelers will mix in a playmaker at wide receiver during day 2 of the NFL Draft, but if the Steelers’ free agency signings are any clue, don’t be surprised if they call the name of a new man in the middle for the black and gold.
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