With the No. 87 pick of the NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers got the center they coveted to replace retired Maurkice Pouncey.
It just wasn’t the one that most draft experts expected.
The Steelers selected Illinois’ Kendrick Green, a 6-foot-2, 305-pound redshirt junior. Green played guard as well as in the pivot for the Illini, but the Steelers will use him to anchor the middle of the offensive line.
Green has large shoes to fill with the departure of Pouncey, who retired in February after 11 NFL seasons that included nine Pro Bowl selections.
He’s ready for the challenge.
“Absolutely,” Green said. “He’s a great player, obviously. A Hall of Famer, if you ask me. I’m definitely looking forward to coming in and helping contribute as soon as possible.”
While the Steelers selected Green, Senior Bowl standout Quinn Meinerz of Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater remained on the board. By most analysts’ predictions, Meinerz was the highest-rated center available when the Steelers picked Green.
New Steelers offensive line coach Adrian Klemm attended Illinois’ pro day and came away confident that Green is capable of playing all three interior offensive line spots, including center.
“He sets the tone, especially at that position,” Klemm said. “It’s the belly of the beast. He comes out and plays with that demeanor, and it carries throughout the group.”
The last time the Steelers used a draft pick on a center was in 2010 when they took Pouncey with the No. 18 overall selection.
Green went to Illinois with the intent of playing defensive tackle. Upon the advice of coach Lovie Smith, he was switched to offense in 2017, his redshirt season, after adding 30 pounds. He started 12 games at left guard in 2018 and made 12 starts at that position in 2019. In 2020, Green was named a first-team all-conference pick in the Big Ten when he started three times and center and five at left guard.
Green, 22, made 33 consecutive starts during his three seasons at Illinois.
“He was an alpha in that program.” Klemm said. “He’s going to fit in well here.”
Given a chance to address the offensive line in the second round earlier Friday, the Steelers did that in a roundabout way by picking tight end Pat Freiermuth of Penn State.
By selecting a tight end so early, however, the Steelers lost out on two of the top five centers in the draft – Creed Humphrey and Josh Myers – before the round was complete. Landon Dickerson, the top center in the class, went earlier to Philadelphia.
Five tackles went before the Freiermuth pick at No. 55. Jalen Mayfield was picked early in the third (No. 70) by Atlanta, and Brady Christensen went to Carolina two picks later. Minnesota took guard Wyatt Davis immediately before the Steelers’ turn.
Klemm didn’t anoint Green as the starting center, saying the third-round pick will get a chance to compete with B.J. Finney and J.C. Hassenauer in training camp.
That’s OK with Green.
“I think we’ll be fine,” he said. “I just want to come in and be a sponge and learn as much as possible as fast as possible.”
Meinerz, by the way, went 11 picks later to Denver.
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at jrutter@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Categories: Sports | Steelers/NFL
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Steelers use 3rd-round draft pick to take Illinois center/guard Kendrick Green - TribLIVE
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