After releasing Mason Cole, the Pittsburgh Steelers have forced themselves into finding a new Center or two. There are a few players on the current roster who have effectively pinch hit as Centers in college, but none who would call themselves that by Trade. So where to go shopping for one? Walmart? Costco? Home Depot?

Hardly the spots to find NFL caliber Centers, I know. So let’s go through the valid ones.

Option 1: Do they look within the current roster?

Cheap and available, this option may provide a lot of value, but it doesn’t necessarily mean a lot of quality will come with that value. As the saying goes: ‘You get what you pay for’. With that said, Spencer Anderson is said to possibly have the skill, but does anyone want to see him starting on Opening Weekend?

Anderson may provide unseen upside, but is this how the Steelers are going to find out if they have their next Franchise Center?  Maybe he provides more backup value this season as Swing Lineman (OT2/IOL3), but the talk all last season when he was drafted, was his ability to play Swing Tackle. So I feel that there is a very small chance he actually moves all the way inside to the Pivot.

Likelyhood? 2 out of 10. As in, the other two options failed miserably, and this is their Hail Mary.

C Zach Frazier’s season ended vs Baylor in November. He bear crawled and then hobbled off the field on one leg in an attempt to save WVU time.

Tough. https://t.co/oaOi96kQcH pic.twitter.com/H9DgzrO2Um

— Dominic White (@DomWWhite) February 25, 2024

Option 2: Grab a guy in Free Agency

Let’s address the elephant in the room with this option: There are no GREAT options in Free Agency this year for the Steelers. The talent that is available isn’t Franchise Center worthy. What there IS though, is serviceable talent that provides an upgrade to what we saw at the end of the season with Mason Cole. Think of it this way: if you thought Mason Cole was a C- to C average player for the position, then the options the Steelers have to rummage through would probably be considered C+ to B-. I don’t think that a FA Center is going to be the one that sticks around for the next 6-8 years Hartings-style, but then again, that’s exactly how that story played out, so what do I know?

There are a couple guys available in Free Agency that the Steelers could be interested in, including:

Tyler Biadasz (DAL) – Coming off his Rookie papers (4th Rnd/2020), Biadasz has logged over 900 snaps for the last 3 years, including over 1200 in 2021. The guy has experience for days and was part of a team that knew how to run the ball well. He would seem to be a priority signing for DAL, so this option might have the Steelers in a bidding war. Probably not the first guy they are looking at because of said bidding war, but not out of the question.

Likelyhood? 4 out of 10. The bidding war will probably be too steep in the end for the Steelers to find the appropriate value.

Lloyd Cushenberry (DEN) – Also coming off his Rookie contract (3rd Rnd/2020), was thrown in as a Rookie starter and has logged over 1000 snaps in 3 of his first 4 seasons. Denver is one of the few other NFL Franchises that seems to place a value on the Center position. This also could get into a bidding war.

Likelyhood? 6 out of 10. 

Aaron Brewer (TEN) – The obvious choice in Free Agency for the Steelers seems to be signing the guy that was in the Offensive Coordinator’s system previously. The one that the media says is an exact Free Agent fit to Mason Cole, as if that is supposed to inspire the reader to jump up and down for joy. At least with this choice, it would seem that there would be minimal falloff from Cole’s play to what Brewer can bring with his experience. And, he can do it on the cheap, which is always nice. Brewer played sparingly at the beginning of his career, but in 2022 logged over 1000 snaps and, this past season played in an amazing 114% of the teams offensive snaps, according to Spotrac. No lie, that’s actually the number they posted on their site. Someone please explain that one to me, I’ve never seen that before.

KIDS! Make sure you vet your sources, like I apparently did not.

Likelyhood? 8 out of 10 Probably the guy they end up getting in a weak Center FA class.

C Zach Frazier’s season ended vs Baylor in November. He bear crawled and then hobbled off the field on one leg in an attempt to save WVU time.

Tough. https://t.co/oaOi96kQcH pic.twitter.com/H9DgzrO2Um

— Dominic White (@DomWWhite) February 25, 2024

Option 3: Nab one in the Draft

Likelyhood? 10 out of 10

Let’s face it. This is the one you speed-scrolled to, isn’t it? This is the one with all of the juicy possibilities. Fresh meat that hasn’t been spoiled with bad coaching or technique, and it’s super cheap. Lots of names in the Draft this year, but you all know who the Big 3 are:

Jackson Powers-Johnson (ORE), 2023 Rimington Award winner, had Bo Nix as his signal caller last season for the absurd Oregon offense that was only topped (twice) by the National Champ runner up. Side note: Michigan v Oregon would have been a helluva matchup to watch last year in College Football, but I digress.

Sedrick Van Pran (UGA), Size, agility, experience, and a National Champ to boot, Van Pran could have went in the 1st round LAST year had he chosen to declare. Ultimately, he went back to school for one more year, and the experience did nothing but make him even better. Not the flashy pick, but definitely a Steeler-type pick. Two Dawgs on one Line? Sounds good to me, especially considering UGA’s recruiting prowess and success the last few years.

Zach Frazier (WVU), Some people round these parts, who shall remain nameless (but I CAN tell you that the name rhymes with Dannon Sprite) are already annointing this guy as ‘The One’. And, to be honest, it’s really hard to argue when you watch the tape of Frazier’s play. Or when you find out about the multiple State Wrestling Championships. Or when you see the already well-rounded and polished mature character when he speaks. Listen, all you really need to know about the guy is this play right here: This play SCREAMS “I’m a Pittsburgh Steeler”: https://twitter.com/DomWWhite/status/1761584005902664129?s=20

So now that we’ve visited the three options the Steelers seem to have regarding filling the position, let me tell you what I think that the Steelers are about to do. Or, at least what I’d like to see them do.

With having no viable option for Center on the roster, the Steelers seem primed to take a Free Agent acquisition who can come in and be declared as the Starter. At the same time, this Starter will be given competition by a talented rookie with the expectations that the Starter can have the job as long as he holds off the Rookie. Ask Chuks how that went for him.

Oh, you want me to names? If I had to make the prediction today of what the Steelers are going to do in both Free Agency and the Draft concerning the Center position, it is this:

Free Agency – The Steelers sign Free Agent, former Tennessee Titan Aaron Brewer to a 2 year deal. It gives Brewer the chance to start, earn more coin for himself with a good deal.

Draft – The Steelers use the extra 4th round pick to move up into the early 2nd, and take Zach Frazier. In a perfect world they do, anyways. The Draft is a fickle thing. Last year the Steelers came up Aces in the Draft. Let’s hope for the same this year.

So in the end I think the Steelers end up going BOTH the Free Agent route and the Draft route to fill the hole the Steelers have self-imposed upon themselves. It seems to be the most logical conclusion to this rapidly forming situation at Center.

So what are your thoughts on the options? Is there anyone else you think is on the Steelers radar? Let me know below!!!