The Pittsburgh Steelers have a young offense and the potential to really come into their own this season. Last season the average age of Pittsburgh’s offense was 25.3 years old and the team didn’t get much older this offseason other than adding 29-year-old offensive guard Isaac Seumalo. Because of this many of the Steelers most important players on offense are just now hitting their prime.
One person in particular who is excited for this season is wide receiver Diontae Johnson. Johnson had a down year last season as he struggled to adjust to new quarterback Mitch Trubisky and then Kenny Pickett. However, he is poised to bounce back and is very excited for this season.
Today, Johnson spoke with reporters after Day One of OTAs and said how much he is excited for this year and getting to build chemistry with his teammates.
“We bringing in a lot of players this year, so I’m feeling real good about this season,” Johnson said to reporters on a video posted to Steelers.com. “[I] really just got to get comfortable with everybody and everybody got to be as one and move in the right direction.”
Much of the Steelers’ skill position players are remaining the same, and quarterback Kenny Pickett will be the starter this season barring injury. But Pittsburgh was active in free agency and the draft and brought a lot of new talent who may be starting.
Starting with the offensive line, which has been suspect for the past few years, it is possible the whole left side will feature new starters with Seumalo at left guard and rookie first-round pick Broderick Jones starting at left tackle.
In addition to Seumalo and Jones on the line, the Steelers traded for wide receiver Allen Robinson II and drafted tight end Darnell Washington, two players who may see significant playing time this season. With these new additions it will be important for the offensive players to develop chemistry with one other.
This will likely come over time, and the Steelers’ training camp tradition of living in the dorms at Saint Vincent College for a few weeks will help build that chemistry. Once that comes, there is a lot of reason to be excited as Johnson said he is. A young offense has many players who are either entering their primes or now have NFL experience after playing a season and can take that second-year leap.
We know the Steelers defense is great, but for Pittsburgh to make a playoff run the offense needs to make a jump. If Johnson’s words are anything to go off of, there may be a good chance the offense takes that jump this season.
