Heading into last Sunday night’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense ranked near the bottom of the league in several statical categories. Even after the Raiders game in which they amassed 333 total yards, their personnel diversity still looks uninspiring.
Personnel diversity can be defined as whenever on-field personnel play outside of their roster positions. An example is WR Rondale Moore lining up at running back last weekend for the Arizona Cardinals against the Dallas Cowboys, taking a carry 45 yards to the house for a touchdown.
According to a chart tweeted out by MikeyV of Pro Football Focus, the Pittsburgh Steelers ranked dead last in the NFL in personnel diversity since 2019, charting in at 30.90% overall diversity with their most diverse grouping being 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends, and two wide receivers).
As you can see from the graphic above, the Steelers have one of the most vanilla offenses in the NFL over the last several years, lacking that flavor or creativity that we’ve become accustomed seeing from the likes of the Chiefs and the 49ers, who rank near the top. The Ravens lead the way in overall diversity at 76%, having a diversity percentage from personnel grouping of 87.28% compared to Pittsburgh’s meager 35.70%.
We’ve written extensively about OC Matt Canada’s bland offense in the past, calling it boring without much motion or moving of pieces to different spots on the field. This could be an indictment on the overall scheme and the need to add more diversity to Pittsburgh’s personnel groupings to spice things up a bit and keep defenses honest by not giving them tells.
What could this look like? Well, the Steelers have several players that could play different positions relative to their roster position. We’ve seen RB Najee Harris split out as a wide receiver in the past and TE Pat Freiermuth could be best served working from the slot more as a pass catcher rather than attached to the line of scrimmage. WR Calvin Austin III also could see action in the backfield as a scat/change-of-pace back on certain occasions, having a similar skill set to Moore, who is mentioned above. The speedster had eight rush attempts at Memphis for 169 yards and three touchdowns.
This isn’t to suggest that we need to start seeing WR George Pickens in the backfield or QB Kenny Pickett out wide at receiver. Rather, Pittsburgh’s offense just doesn’t offer a lot of variety within its personnel groupings. Utilizing more diversity in its personnel groupings could go a long way in keeping opposing defenses honest while possibly adding more spark to an offense that is still attempting to find its groove in 2023.
