Through the first three games of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have seen a bit of an uptick in something they focused heavily on in the offseason.
No, it’s not scoring offensively, unfortunately.
There has been improvement in the yards after catch portion of the offensive attack though.
Last season, Pittsburgh was dead last in the league with just 4.0 yards of YAC per reception. The Buffalo Bills were nearly a half yard better than Pittsburgh but were still 31st with an average of 4.4 yards of YAC. The 2022 league leader in the category were the Carolina Panthers at 6.7 yards.
Not only were the Steelers the worst in average YAC per, they also have three receivers who were in the bottom 10 of the league in YAC per reception last season, including Allen Robinson II, who was traded for this offseason.
So far this season, the Steelers are averaging 6.2 yards after the catch and have 386 total yards of YAC on the season, according to Pro Football Focus.
That’s a marked improvement, which has third-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada rather pleased.
“Yeah, great credit to our coaches and players. That was a focal point for us back in training camp, OTAs, Phase One. We’ve been talking about that. We weren’t good enough at that last year. For what reasons? Doesn’t matter. We’re working on it and talking about it,” Canada said to reporters Thursday during his weekly availability, according to the official transcript provided by the team. “Credit to our players and all the good stuff goes to our players, so credit to them.
“It opens things up obviously, and hope it continues to get better. We still feel like there’s a couple of opportunities that could have been a little bit better.”
So far, improvements have been made in that area for the Steelers. Pittsburgh has seen a nice balance of YAC from its playmakers.
Running back Jaylen Warren leads the Steelers with 125 yards after catch and averages 10.4 per reception, according to Pro Football Focus, while wide receiver George Pickens has 114 on the season, averaging 8.8 per reception. Wide receivers Calvin Austin III and Robinson have gotten into the mix, too, with Austin recording 51 yards after catch and Robinson 34.
The YAC has come in big chunks in recent weeks, too.
Pickens had a ton of YAC on his 71-yard touchdown against the Cleveland Browns, catching a slant route over the middle, breaking a tackle and racing home for the score. Austin had 36 yards of YAC on his 72-yard touchdown against the Raiders in Week Three, splitting the corner and safety for a walk-in touchdown, while Pickens also added a ton of YAC on his 32-yard catch-and-run on third down in the third quarter, sparking the Steelers’ offense.
Robinson had a 31-yard catch-and-run in Week One against the San Francisco 49ers that had more than 20 yards of YAC, while the injured Diontae Johnson had 15 yards of YAC on his 26-yard catch-and-run against the 49ers before getting hurt.
After struggling last season to generate much YAC at all, the Steelers focused on it all offseason. That focus is paying off as pieces offensively are creating plays after the catch, sparking the offense and giving it real juice. It’s a major addition to an offense that seemingly struggles to create much splash overall.
Hopefully the Pittsburgh offense can continue to make plays after the catch, giving life to an offense that remains very much a work in progress under Canada.
