Brooke PryorDec 25, 2025, 06:00 AM ETCloseBrooke Pryor is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2019. She previously covered the Kansas City Chiefs for the Kansas City Star and the University of Oklahoma for The Oklahoman.Follow on X
Spencer Anderson, Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 No. 251 draft pick; (6-5, 305 pounds)
Dan Skipper, Detroit Lions Undrafted (6-9, 334 pounds)
Kelvin Beachum, Arizona Cardinals 2012 No. 248 draft pick; (6-3, 308 pounds)
Wanya Morris, Kansas City Chiefs 2023 No. 92 draft pick; (6-6, 307 pounds)
Matt Pryor, Philadelphia Eagles 2018 No. 206 draft pick; (6-7, 332 pounds)
Blake Fisher, Houston Texans 2024 No. 59 draft pick; (6-6, 312 pounds)
Anderson, though, isn’t technically a starter — at least not as one of the typical five starting offensive linemen. Instead, the versatile 2023 seventh-round draft pick is the Steelers’ designated sixth man on the offensive line. Because of his key role in Pittsburgh’s jumbo package, the coaching staff decided to open pregame starting introductions with Anderson prior to the team’s Week 11 win against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“We came back in from warmups and the coaches were like, ‘We’re announcing the lineup, Spence, you’re first,'” Anderson said. “I’m like, ‘What? [starting right guard] Isaac [Seumalo] is playing. Am I confused? They said, ‘No, you’re reporting.'”
Sometimes an extra blocking tight end, sometimes a fullback in the backfield and occasionally another pass-catching option for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Anderson has reported as an eligible receiver to game officials by swiping his hand across his chest more than 100 times this season.
Anderson is just one of the many bonus big men among 32 teams who are making larger-than-life contributions to their offenses this season. NFL teams have used six offensive linemen in 1,521 plays through 16 weeks, the most in nearly a decade.
The NFL announced in May that at the end of the 2025 season, it will debut a Protector of the Year Award to honor the best offensive lineman and give a little shine to an often overlooked position group.
Unlike the NBA, there’s no sixth man award to honor the extra offensive linemen — and the position’s often understated players are just fine with that. But, many have said, there’s a kinship of sorts that welcomes the players who do a little bit of anything and everything to help their teams.
“All the guys, I say the jumbos, we all kind of share a smile when we play each other,” Detroit’s Dan Skipper said. “A lot of respect goes in because you know just the preparation that goes into that. There is a fraternity in that sense. But also, it’s hard because as a sixth man, especially in football, you may start the year as a sixth man in Game 1, someone’s out for the year and now you’re starting.”
So instead of creating another new award, we’re highlighting six (naturally) of those versatile fraternity members and what they’ve given to their teams as a sixth man.
Before Anderson became the Steelers’ sixth man, he was an AAU basketball hooper. A stretch four, Anderson even had college basketball offers from VCU, George Mason and a handful of Division II schools.
The Bowie, Maryland, native was a three-year starter across the offensive line for the Maryland Terrapins before being selected by the Steelers in the seventh round of the 2023 draft.
Versatility is still his calling card these days, but instead of playing two sports, he’s playing multiple spots on the offensive line. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith first used Anderson as an extra lineman for a pair of plays in Week 3 against the Patriots.
A week later against the Vikings in Ireland, the Steelers increased Anderson’s workload to 17 plays in their jumbo package. Not only did the Steelers score a touchdown as Kenneth Gainwell rushed for a 4-yard touchdown, but Rodgers completed all four pass attempts out of the jumbo package. Since then, the package has become a mainstay in the Steelers’ offense. Through 16 weeks, the Steelers lead the league in yards gained with an extra lineman on the field (716).
“Spence does a really good job in it. He’s really good in space,” Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said, adding they ramped up usage against the Vikings because he saw an advantage in the matchup. “That’s why we started doing it. But we have other tight ends, but it just gave us a loan that let us get creative and it was effective for us and it kind of evolved from there.”
Often used in tandem with 300-pound tight end Darnell Washington, Anderson has helped to create bigger holes in the run game and protect the Steelers’ 42-year-old quarterback.
The Steelers value Anderson’s versatility so much that even though Anderson started in place of injured right guard Isaac Seumalo against the Lions, he still filled his usual sixth man role when the Steelers deployed their jumbo package. That meant Andrus Peat replaced him at guard while Anderson reported as eligible and lined up as a de facto tight end or fullback.
“[Arthur Smith] always says ‘unconventional warfare’ — that’s his one-liner, every offensive meeting,” Anderson said.
Smith got extra unconventional with Anderson in the Sunday night game against the Green Bay Packers in Week 8 when Rodgers completed a play-action pass to Anderson. Not only did Anderson secure the ball for his lone NFL catch, but he also picked up a couple of extra yards as he muscled through linebacker Isaiah McDuffie.
Since then, Anderson has become a fan favorite in Pittsburgh, eliciting big cheers from the crowd when he enters the game and is announced as an eligible receiver. He said he doesn’t usually hear the crowd in the moment, but he has seen game replays and recognized his warm reception.
“My parents are like, ‘Oh, you’re Mr. Eligible,'” Anderson said, shaking his head. “I’m like, ‘What does that even mean?’
“I’m appreciative of it, but I just try not to pay it any mind just because as Coach T [Mike Tomlin] says, when you give them too much sugar, you get diabetic.”
That mishap was a one-off, but Skipper said often the hardest part of being the extra lineman is lining up in the jumbo package and learning the intricacies of the offense as a skill player.
“When you’re in the offensive line, you understand, all right, this is two by two, three by one, this is slot, this is not. But then when you hear ‘Q jump shimmy left,’ this that and the other, you’re like, ‘What the hell just happened?’ Now you have to know all that — shifts, motions, formations — all those things that you don’t necessarily need to know as an offensive lineman, well you really need to know it as a tight end.
“I think it’s a tremendous amount more work. The amount of time I spend on tight end is probably two to one compared to tackle.”
With nine touchdowns out of the jumbo package, the Lions trail only the Arizona Cardinals (11) through 16 weeks. Last season, the Lions scored five touchdowns when using a sixth man.
“It was awesome,” Skipper said of the score. “I was surprised he called it, to be honest with you. I messed it up the one time we ran it. I thought it got thrown out. …I mean it’s an awesome experience and really cool, but at the end of the day, it’s one play.”
Being a sixth man means having your number announced every time you enter the game. That naturally means being less anonymous than most offensive linemen.
For Beachum, that meant a recurring bit every time he saw Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell earlier this season.
“He’s like, ‘Hey how many times are you going to report this week?'” Beachum said in October. “It’s becoming a thing. I guess I’m anonymous with my hand up and me rubbing my chest.”
A 14-year NFL veteran, Beachum describes himself in the middle of the “locker room food chain” at this point in his career.
Now the Cardinals’ starting right tackle after a season-ending knee injury to starter Jonah Williams, Beachum is accustomed to doing anything asked of him — including being the Cardinals’ sixth man.
“I’ve been at the top of the food chain in the locker room,” Beachum said. “I’ve been at the bottom of the food chain in the locker room. I’m in the middle right now. I understand where I’m at in my career and for me, being able to be on the field and helping the team in any way manageable is something that I enjoy and I understand my role.”
And when the Cardinals lost their top two blocking tight ends early in the season, helping the team looked like spending a lot of time as an extra blocker on the line of scrimmage.
“The product of the National Football League, it’s a 100% injury rate,” Beachum said. “It’s the war of attrition, and that’s just the nature of this business. I just think we’ve tried to adapt with the obvious.”
The Cardinals have used a sixth offensive lineman on 137 plays this season, third most in the league, and their 11 touchdowns with a sixth lineman are tied with the Cleveland Browns for most in the NFL.
“I’ve told them if you throw me the ball — they know not to throw me the ball,” Beachum said. “I don’t want the ball. That’s just, that’s not what I want. I didn’t sign up to play football to catch balls.”
Before Morris’ season-ending left knee injury in early December, he got to show off his hands every Friday. Morris, who spent time as both the sixth and seventh offensive lineman this season, opened each of those practices by running short fade routes near the sideline and then catching passes from an assistant coach.
“If you see me out there snagging stuff, we might just be working on something,” the 25-year-old Morris said. “We’re just dual threats, me and Mike [Caliendo]. We go out there and do what we’re told to do — and we do it with fashion,” he said, laughing.
“Personally, I think I’ve got the best hands on the O-line,” Morris jokingly said. “It was a no-brainer for Coach Reid. When you put in pass plays like that — and we ran it a few times — and then you call them actually, it’s pretty nerve-racking. You get to see what it feels like for the receivers and what they go through. You have to create space, and you see how fast [defenders] move to the ball, actually. It’s a different type of feeling.”