3 centers who could replace Steelers’ Maurkice Pouncey if he retires

With the doubt surrounding Maurkice Pouncey’s return to the Steelers in 2021, Pittsburgh must make sure that they have a replacement handy.

It has been an outstanding career for veteran Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, who reportedly told his teammates that he plans to retire after eleven seasons. If this does turn out to be the case, as such has not yet been set in stone, then Pittsburgh needs to find a sturdy replacement for next season and onward. The desperation for a new guy is only heightened by the questionability regarding the entire offensive line situation as a whole.

Luckily, there are many places to look for a new face that can be welcomed warmly into the Steel City, whether it is in offseason trading, free agency, or even the upcoming NFL Draft in April. In my opinion, the options to choose from should be rather young, or at the very least have several seasons left in them. Obviously, we will not be looking at the biggest names in football, as the Steelers do not want to set themselves back in any position if such a result is in any way avoidable. Also, the salary cap situation in Pittsburgh is not running as smoothly as we would like to see at the moment.

So without further ado, let’s take a look at three centers that the Steelers could pick up in the 2021 offseason, assuming that Maurkice Pouncey is really going to hang it up after all these years.

Creed Humphrey, Oklahoma Sooners

Looking at the draft prospects first, Humphrey has been regarded as one of the top centers to seek out for quite some time now. When an offensive talent has the University of Oklahoma tied to their resume, that takes care of half the work when it comes to getting noticed by league scouts.

Having played for the Sooners from 2018 to now, Humphrey has without question gained an impressive amount of college experience. And his documented dimensions have him officially listed at 6’5, 320 pounds. So he will definitely not have to build his body up too much before getting recognized as the one who could potentially fill Pouncey’s shoes in the heart of the offensive line.

The center position has not appeared to be a very huge market in the draft hype department, resulting in a player such as Creed certainly being overlooked and almost guaranteed to be available by the time the Steelers are on the clock. So if they are desperate enough to make getting a new center a draft priority, then I feel that taking Humphrey in the first round is the way to go, as you never know if he will still be up for grabs by the time your next pick comes around.