As Ben Roethlisberger lined himself up behind center for the opening snap of Steelers training camp, he could clearly see the familiar No. 53 standing before him.
Seemed like old times.
But this No. 53 wasn't Maurkice Pouncey, the man who wore that jersey the previous decade for the Steelers. Instead, it was rookie third-round draft pick Kendrick Green in that familiar number.
"You’ll never fill the shoes of Maurkice Pouncey, and I don’t think Kendrick is trying to do that, which is good," said Roethlisberger. "Pouncey is in a class of his own. That’s what makes Pounce so special, the relationship that we had. It will never be duplicated. But what happened today is Kendrick made calls. We didn’t blow any snaps, so I would say it was a good first day."
And a necessary one for the Steelers, who saw Pouncey retire at the end of the 2020 season following a 11-year career that saw him named to the Pro Bowl nine times and five times to the All-Pro team.
But that is part of the expectation for Green, a former Illinois star. The Steelers selected him in the third round as the heir apparent to Pouncey.
But don't read too much into it -- yet -- though rookie running back Najee Harris also opened up with the starters.
"We thought it was important that those guys who are going to get starts in the Hall of Fame game to get as much work as we can. It’s no indication of where they are in terms of his career," Mike Tomlin said. "You can label him a starter if you choose. He is. He’s a starter for the Hall of Fame game if that means anything."
It does with the Steelers, who are breaking in an entirely new offensive line as they opened training camp here Thursday at the UPMC-Rooney Sports Complex.
With Pouncey retired, the only two centers on the roster with NFL experience are veteran B.J. Finney, signed back in the offseason, and 2020 backup J.C. Hassenauer.
The path to starting for Green isn't a rough one. But how quickly Green able to make that move was the question. After all, most of Green's starts in college came at guard. He also played center for the Illini, but mostly spot duty, making four starts there.
"I prepared every week like I was going to play center," Green told me earlier this year. "My coach did a very good job of that -- made sure I got reps at center. So, it's something I'm comfortable doing. Honestly, I like center more than guard."
His play Thursday did nothing to show that he can't succeed at the position, one that holds special meaning for fans.
The Steelers have a long legacy of having excellent centers dating back to the days that Ray Mansfield manned the position. Mike Webster followed him and was succeeded by Dermontti Dawson and then Jeff Hartings. Webster and Dawson are two of just seven centers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pouncey was the next in that great lineage, while Hartings was a Pro Bowl player, as well.
The Steelers aren't there yet with Green. But they liked what they saw in Day 1.
"These guys come to work, particularly when they've been exposed to some of the things he's been exposed to," Tomlin said. "He's played Big Ten football. He's been in some circumstances. We'll see what the process does to him. But not a bad start today from his perspective at all."
It doesn't hurt Green's chances that the line will be entirely new this season. Not only is Pouncey gone, but Alejandro Villanueva and Matt Feiler also left in free agency, while David DeCastro was released last month after it was determined he would need a surgery on his ankle that would cost him as much as two months of rehab time.
Only Chuks Okorafor, who will move from right to left tackle to replace Villanueva, returns as a regular starter from a year ago.
But the Steelers expect second-year pro Kevin Dotson, who was held out of practice Thursday after "tweaking something," according to Tomlin, and free agent signing Trai Turner, a five-time Pro Bowl player who was signed after DeCastro was released, will man the interior positions. Okorafor and Zach Banner, who was a full participant Thursday as he returns from an ACL tear that cost him all but one game in 2020, will man the offensive tackle spots.
The Steelers have players who have at least lined up and played snaps in the NFL pencilled in across the line at every position except center if Green is the starter.
But that doesn't place any additional pressure on the rookie.
"We don’t have the bar set real high. We were last in the league in rushing," Tomlin said. "So, we’ve got nowhere to go but up in certain aspects of that. It’s not something that we fear, no."
Dale and Eddie break down the first day of camp:
Here's the video:
If you'd prefer to listen:
