Today we’re going to look at the offensive charting and point out some of the notable items that we saw. The first-team offense sparkled in every game and caused many pundits to take notice. There were some interesting tidbits so let’s look. Alex Kozora has provided the defensive charting report for the preseason already.
Personnel Grouping
Over the course of 198 offensive snaps, it’s no surprise that 11 personnel (1 running back, 1 tight end, 3 receivers) was most prominent with 121 snaps (61 percent). Following that was 12 personnel (1 running back, 2 tight ends, 2 wide receivers) with 57 snaps (29 percent).
Most interesting was the use of 02/03 personnel, which utilized no running backs and two and three tight ends respectively. In these scenarios, Connor Heyward was lined up as the running back.
Quarterbacks
As a group, they were in shotgun 56 percent of the time, under center 42 percent and in pistol formation for just five snaps (two percent). As I’m sure you noticed they used much more of the field when throwing the ball. Of the 104 drop backs, 47 throws were outside the numbers and 39 inside the numbers. There were also eight sacks, six scrambles, two bad snaps, one pass batted down and one spiked throw.
- Kenny Pickett played the fewest (and most effective) snaps of the group at 28, splitting evenly between under center and in shot gun. Also spread evenly were the direction of his passes. Five were outside the numbers to the left, five outside the numbers to the right and five between the numbers. He also didn’t take a sack or have to scramble after dropping back.
- Mitch Trubisky totaled 67 snaps with 41 of those coming in shotgun and three in pistol formation. He threw 16 left and 14 right outside the numbers with 24 coming between the numbers. He was sacked three times and scrambled three times for 37 yards.
- Mason Rudolph led the way with 71 snaps. Of those, 42 were shotgun and two in pistol. He too spread the ball around with 15 total throws outside the numbers and 14 inside the numbers. He was sacked once and scrambled once for 12 yards.
- Tanner Morgan had limited opportunities with just 32 snaps, 19 coming under center. He had 13 drop backs with five throws each inside and outside the numbers. He was sacked twice and had one throw batted down at the line of scrimmage.
Running Backs
The alignment of the running backs had a good amount of balance with 42 percent of the snaps coming directly behind the quarterback either with the quarterback under center or in pistol. The back was offset next to the quarterback in shotgun 55 percent of the time. The team went with an empty formation on just four snaps.
- Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren split plays with the first team. Both earned even splits in their alignments. Harris had eight each behind the quarterback and offset while Warren had six each.
- Anthony McFarland Jr. led all backs with 59 plays. He looked much improved with his balance and patience and had a couple nice runs with gains of 17 and 31 and a reception for 12 yards.
- Greg Bell earned a practice squad spot with his play. He had 48 total snaps with 20 touches on the ground. He had some struggles early with a total of five yards on his first 10 carries with zero or negative yards on half of those. On his second 10 carries things looked a little better with 26 total yards and just one carry for no gain.
Wide Receivers
- Big plays were a pleasant experience this preseason. With just two touchdowns from outside the red zone in 2022 it was an area that greatly needed improvement. The offense was able to provide several big plays by several different players.
- Diontae Johnson went without a touchdown last season, but I’d be willing to bet the over on whatever number Vegas has set for him. He benefited from the efficiency of the first-team offense with four receptions on four targets with one touchdown and one reception over 20 yards.
- There is a great amount of hype around George Pickens this year. Many expect him to have a breakout season and he has looked impressive. Three receptions on the same number of targets with one touchdown and two receptions over 20 yards.
- Allen Robinson II’s role will be more telling in the regular season. He is expected to be a third-down target and make the tough catches in the middle of the field. He had two receptions on three targets for 12 yards.
- Calvin Austin III has performed well after missing out on his rookie year because of a foot injury. He had four receptions on twice as many targets working with the backup quarterbacks. He was targeted deep on four throws, including a 67-yard reception and drawing a 38-yard pass interference penalty.
- Gunner Olszewski led the way in targets (11) and receptions (seven) and totaled 63 yards on a hefty 110 snaps.
Tight Ends
This is an interesting group with Pat Freiermuth having reliable hands, being a red zone target and first-down creator. Darnell Washington has taken the blocking tight end job from Zach Gentry and has upside as a receiver. Connor Heyward has become the jack-of-all-trades. Within the three preseason games, Heyward lined up at fullback, running back, inline tight end, on the wing and as a slot receiver.
- Freiermuth, like Johnson and Pickens was perfect catching both of his targets including a 25-yard touchdown on 23 snaps.
- Washington totaled 71 snaps catching a pair of targets for 15 yards. I don’t have a number for pancake blocks, but he had plenty of those as well.
- Heyward has become the utility player lining up all over the field, including at tailback. It could be prelude to game days to him being used at the number three running back if McFarland doesn’t get a helmet. Out of 41 snaps, 16 came in the backfield and 10 in the slot. He ran the ball five times for 16 yards and was also a perfect six for six on targets averaging 12.2 per reception.
- Gentry was the odd man out and didn’t make the 53-man roster. He led the group with 88 snaps and caught one of his two targets.
Offensive Line
The starters played sparingly as expected. Here are their snap totals.
- Mason Cole – 28
- Isaac Seumalo – 28
- James Daniels – 17
- Dan Moore – 36
- Chukwuma Okorafor – 28
First-round pick Broderick Jones totaled 134 snaps, the most of any offensive lineman. All those snaps were at left tackle, and he had his ups and downs.
The other reserves that made the roster have something in common. Versatility.
- Nate Herbig had nine snaps at center and right guard and 14 at left guard.
- Dylan Cole played four snaps at left tackle, 26 at left guard and 72 at right tackle.
- Spencer Anderson is the Connor Heyward of the offensive line. He totaled 117 snaps with 55 at left guard, 5 at center, 25 at right guard and 32 at right tackle.
