The Steelers are already at the point where the offensive line experiment needs a hard reset, and right guard is the clearest place to start. Through two weeks, Pittsburgh has spent too much time sorting through blown assignments and too little time finding a solution that actually holds up. Spencer Anderson has been the biggest problem in the group, and the film has made that impossible to ignore.
Anderson was given the starting job at right guard, likely because of his experience with the team, but the early returns have been brutal. He has had some decent moments as a run blocker, yet that hasn’t been enough to offset how shaky he’s looked overall. The real damage has come in pass protection, where the breakdowns have piled up fast.
Week 2 was especially rough. Anderson gave up seven pressures against the New England Patriots, and there were nine ugly pass-blocking snaps on the film.
No other right guard in the NFL allowed more than four pressures in that week. That kind of performance wasn’t just a bad day, either.
He was also poor in the opener against the Atlanta Falcons.
There’s a change coming, and the obvious fallback is Brock Hoffman. He has the benefit of experience, and he played under McCarthy in Dallas, which makes him the safer move. But safer doesn’t necessarily mean better, and the Steelers may be better off skipping straight past the stopgap and getting Gennings Dunker on the field.
That’s especially true after Anderson’s low point in Week 2, when he allowed the sack-forced fumble on Aaron Rodgers that was returned for a defensive touchdown. At that stage, the bar for improvement is already pretty low.
Hoffman may offer some short-term steadiness, but he comes with limits: an undersized frame, subpar athletic traits, and only modest anchoring ability. His best work has come when filling in at center.
Dunker brings a different profile. The Steelers took him in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft, and even though he played tackle at Iowa, he has the size and athletic traits that make him a strong fit inside at guard.
He has broad shoulders, a powerful lower body, and the kind of physical tools that should help him keep the pocket from collapsing around him. The challenge is turning that raw ability into consistent technique.
That part is not simple. There were reports that Dunker struggled in pass protection late in Steelers training camp, and he also had one rough preseason rep that had fans cringing. Still, the upside is hard to ignore, especially compared with what Pittsburgh has already gotten from Anderson.
If the Steelers know the position has already failed, why wait? Dunker would get valuable snaps now, time to build chemistry with the rest of the line, and a chance to clean up the rough edges before the season gets harder later on. By the end of the year, after hundreds of snaps, he should be in a much better place than he is now.
It’s not often that a third-round rookie guard looks like the more logical answer this early, and it’s even stranger that he might get there before first-round offensive tackle Max Iheanachor. But right guard has been the weak point on this line, and the Steelers need to treat it that way. Hoffman may be next, but Dunker is the move that could actually matter.
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For the Steelers, the question is whether keeping Rudolph provides more value as insurance or whether this is the kind of moment to turn a surplus into future draft capital. The Giants, facing an uncertain timeline for Darts return, are the most obvious club to watch, with speculation already linking them to Rudolph as a depth answer and a possible offer centered on a conditional 2027 sixth-round pick. [Read more 🡒]
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For the Steelers, it is the kind of development that matters even before the first meaningful divisional head-to-head meeting. Zac Taylor said other players will get chances to step into the void, but any early-season reshuffling in Cincinnati only adds another layer of uncertainty to a matchup Pittsburgh is already going to be tracking closely. [Read more 🡒]
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Special teams coach Danny Crossman has taken notice of Spears-Jennings effort and impact, even with limited defensive snaps, and he has also had reason to mention running back Eli Heidenreich after a 26-yard kick return against the Patriots. For a Steelers team always looking for young players who can carve out value in any phase, those kinds of contributions can turn into real opportunities before long. [Read more 🡒]