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Brooke Pryor
As his name boomed over the in-stadium public address system and a personalized graphic flashed on the video board, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Spencer Anderson stepped out of the fog-filled tunnel, swiped one hand across his chest and then sprinted past the twin pyrotechnic towers to join his teammates.
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.
„But obviously that was 70 pounds ago, and I chose football,“ Anderson said with a laugh.
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).
Kenneth Gainwell gets his second TD of the day
MINvsPIT on @nflnetwork
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/mWE31vvnsE— NFL (@NFL) September 28, 2025
„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.“
No one understands the roller coaster of being a sixth man better than Skipper.
The eight-year veteran was part of one of the most frustrating and inexplicable moments in recent Lions history in a prime-time December 2023 loss to the Dallas Cowboys — a would-be game-winning, 2-point conversion catch by left tackle Taylor Decker negated by officials saying Skipper, not Decker, reported as eligible for the play and therefore Decker was illegally downfield.
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.“
Come for the Skipper route, stay for the St. Brown first down 😎#DETvsWAS 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/6jtU3TkUei
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) November 9, 2025
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.
One of those was courtesy of Skipper himself. Almost exactly a year after the debacle in Dallas, Skipper caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Jared Goff in a thriller against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 15, 2024. Skipper entered as an extra tight end and blocked on the line as tight end Brock Wright went in motion from left to right to pave a path for running back Jahmyr Gibbs. But Goff faked the handoff to Gibbs and instead rolled left as Skipper leaked out into the flat. Goff connected with a wide-open Skipper on the short pass, and the big man rumbled 8.5 yards after the catch into the end zone for his first career touchdown.
„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.
Beachum, though, wants no part of catching the football.
„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.“
The „fat-and-slow“ periods were Morris’ time to shine.
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.
„We look good doing it. I can’t get mad at that.“
Chiefs coach Andy Reid, a former offensive lineman, was indeed working on something a year ago when he called a play that resulted in Morris catching a 1-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes in a win against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 15, 2024. So far, that’s Morris’ lone NFL catch.
BIG GUY OL TOUCHDOWN! WANYA MORRIS!
📺: #CINvsKC on CBS/Paramount
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/kviZW0xNa1— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2024
„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.“
The Chiefs trail only the Lions in expected points added per play (13.03) with an extra offensive lineman — often Morris or Caliendo this season — on the field. And twice this season — each time on a fourth-and-1, the Chiefs used a sixth and seventh lineman. Both times, Kareem Hunt converted with a run up the middle. The Chiefs are one of 10 teams to use multiple extra linemen this season.
Morris is plenty familiar with being an extra lineman, as he did it in high school and college; he also came in as an extra defensive lineman at times, too.
„You dream about catching a touchdown. I guess that’s just one of the dreams I scratched off the list early. I’m blessed for that one.“
Don’t count Pryor among the offensive linemen who’d like to catch a pass.
„No. I’m good on that,“ Pryor said. „Especially with tape on your hands and everything, I’m good. I go out there and block and sell whatever. I don’t want the ball.“
Pryor has done a little bit of everything in the league since being selected by the Eagles in the sixth round in 2018. Prior to rejoining the Eagles this season, Pryor spent time with the Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears and made starts at every position but center.
This season, though, Pryor is the Eagles’ sixth offensive lineman. The Eagles get the most bang for their jumbo buck using Pryor on run plays, topping the league with a whopping 7.4 yards per rush on designed rush plays with an extra offensive lineman.
In the Week 16 win against the Commanders, Pryor came on the field in the Eagles’ jumbo package and lined up to the outside of left tackle Jordan Mailata. He helped spring running back Tank Bigsby for a score. Pryor wound up reporting as eligible six times in the 29-18 win, including two plays before Bigsby’s score when he lined up on the right side, and Saquon Barkley ripped off a 48-yard run off the left tackle.
Tank Bigsby to the house to extend the @Eagles lead!
PHIvsWAS on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/z03j4zKAKm
— NFL (@NFL) December 21, 2025
„I would say it’s probably a little more stressful than [starting] because if you’re the sixth man, you’re covering the majority of the spots,“ Pryor said. „During the week you have to focus on every position, know the plays front side, back side.
„It’s stressful but it’s a great position to be in. You’re out there and you know any play your number can be called.“
No team uses an extra offensive lineman more often than the Texans. After losing a fullback and two tight ends to injuries, offensive coordinator Nick Caley started utilizing a sixth lineman as a makeshift tight end. So far this season, the Texans have used a sixth man in a league-high 169 plays and picked up 711 yards, second only to Pittsburgh’s 716.
That means Fisher spends a lot of time finding officials to report as eligible.
„They just always point to me before the game, making sure that we’re communicating, making sure that if I’m in, then next play that I re-report, stuff like that,“ Fisher said.
Stroud to Schultz to extend the @HoustonTexans lead!
LVvsHOU on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/kKUXCac4CA
— NFL (@NFL) December 21, 2025
The Texans used the jumbo package a season-high 25 times in their Week 8 win against the 49ers, and they also used it 21 times in the Week 12 win against the Bills. In the 26-15 win against San Francisco, the jumbo package was responsible for 179 of the Texans’ 475 yards and seven first downs.
By the end of the game, fans at NRG Stadium cheered wildly at each in-stadium announcement of: „Houston No. 57 has reported as eligible.“
In the win against the Raiders on Sunday, Fisher reported as eligible seven times, including the 2-yard touchdown pass from quarterback C.J. Stroud to tight end Dalton Schultz. Fisher lined up between right tackle Trent Brown and tight end Harrison Bryant and was responsible for blocking Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby.
„I feel like [Fisher] can do a great job of blocking some of these elite edge players,“ coach DeMeco Ryans said in October. „That’s why we use that a lot. I think he’s done a good job of it. He’s gotten better, and we’re kind of spicing up the variety of things that we do within that package.“
The touchdown strike marked one of six touchdowns scored by the Texans out of the package.
„It keeps the defense on their toes, because not every time I’m in is it a run and not every time I’m in is it a pass,“ Fisher said. „It’s just about them, making them communicate and then us being urgent to the line of scrimmage and getting the play off.“
— ESPN NFL Nation reporters DJ Bien-Aime, Tim McManus, Nate Taylor, Josh Weinfuss and Eric Woodyard contributed to this story.
