The Pittsburgh Steelers had way too many drops during the 2020 season and that’s a problem area on offense that needs to be fixed in 2021. In total, and going by what Pro Football Focus has, the Steelers had 43 drops in 2020 and that includes their playoff loss.
Earlier today, I took it upon myself to chart all 43 of the Steelers drops from last season so I could better contextualize each one. You can see both the charting and the play-by-play data of each drop below and that includes the route the dropper ran.
Below are several observations from my charting and contextualization of all 43 drops. Feel free to add your own in the comments.
2020 Drop Totals By Player:
| Diontae Johnson | WR | 15 |
| Eric Ebron | TE | 9 |
| Chase Claypool | WR | 4 |
| James Washington | WR | 4 |
| James Conner | RB | 4 |
| JuJu Smith-Schuster | WR | 3 |
| Jaylen Samuels | RB | 2 |
| Ray-Ray McCloud III | WR | 1 |
| Anthony McFarland Jr. | RB | 1 |
All but six of the Steelers 2020 drops happened 10 or fewer yards from the original scrimmage.
Six of the Steelers 43 drops in 2020 came behind the original line of scrimmage.
All but 12 of the Steelers 2020 drops happened 5 or fewer yards from the original line of scrimmage.
Of the 15 drops that wide receiver Diontae Johnson had in 2020, only three came outside the numbers on the field.
10 of Johnson’s 15 drops in 2020 came 3 or fewer yards from the original line of scrimmage.
14 of the Steelers 43 drops in 2020 came on either a quick slant or drag route.
6 of the Steelers 43 drops in 2020 came on 3rd down with 5 or fewer yards needed. They only lost one of those four games that those particular drops occurred in.
6 of the Steelers 43 drops in 2020 came against the Washington Football Team, a Week 13 Monday night game they ultimately lost. It was their first loss of the season.
All charting points done in relation to ball being on the 30-yard-line
