On paper, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense looks pretty solid.
Led by ascending second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett, a strong wide receiver room with Diontae Johnson, George Pickens and Allen Robinson II, a loaded tight end group featuring Pat Freiermuth, Connor Heyward and rookie Darnell Washington, and a workhorse running back in Najee Harris — not to mention a rebuilt offensive line that looks pretty good overall — the Steelers seemingly have all the pieces in place to be a good offense in 2023.
Yet, for Pro Football Network’s Arif Hasan, the Steelers offense is one of the league’s worst, coming in at No. 29 in his NFL Offense Rankings for PFN.
“The Pittsburgh Steelers added to their offensive line in a big way. Yet, even with Allen Robinson, there’s not much to trust with the volatile receiving group Pittsburgh’s brought together,” Hasan writes via profootballnetwork.com. “Kenny Pickett is projected to improve, but it’s from a low floor given the reliance on contested catches.”
The Steelers offense wasn’t all that good in 2022, struggling to score points and lacking those big splash plays that every team searches for. But ranking it No. 29 in the league after a strong close to the 2022 season and obvious upgrades to the roster is a bit puzzling.
Along the offensive line, the Steelers added arguably the best guard in free agency in left guard Isaac Seumalo, solidifying the interior of the offensive line with center Mason Cole and right guard James Daniels for the next few seasons. Along with the addition of Seumalo, Pittsburgh added depth and experience with guard Nate Herbig, and then went out and traded up for one of the top left tackles in the 2023 NFL Draft in Broderick Jones.
In addition to the improvements made offensively along the offensive line, the Steelers traded for wide receiver Robinson to shore up the No. 3 spot in the receiver room behind Johnson and Pickens, and drafted Washington in the third round, giving Pittsburgh a potentially dominant in-line blocking tight end with freakish size and athleticism who could be a legitimate red zone weapon moving forward.
Add in the play of Harris and backup running back Jaylen Warren down the stretch in 2022 in which the Steelers offense rushed for more than 140 yards per game while going 7-2, becoming the No. 7 rushing attack in football, there is a solid base from which the Steelers can work.
Knowing all that, it’s stunning to see them at No. 29 in Hasan’s rankings, behind the likes of the Chicago Bears, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and even the Arizona Cardinals. It might all come down to quarterback play with Hasan in the rankings. Based on his comments about Pickett and a low ceiling, that likely played a factor in him ranking the Pickett-led Steelers behind Justin Fields in Chicago, rookie C.J. Stroud in Houston, and even Baker Mayfield in Tampa Bay.
We’ll see what the Steelers offense looks like once it hits the field in 2023, but chances are they won’t be anywhere close to the fourth-worst offense in the NFL.
