If you want more evidence that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense can be considered bland and vanilla, we have the stat for you. In a look at the most “personnel diverse” offenses, those that use players at different positions other than their regular one (i.e. a RB lined up as a WR), the Steelers ranked last.
In essence, players play their position. Running backs play running backs, tight ends play tight ends. According to data analyst Arjun Menon, the Steelers have roughly a 35 percent “diversity” rate, 32nd in football.
As the chart shows, another AFC North team ranks on the opposite end of the spectrum, the Baltimore Ravens far and away first in football at approximately 85 percent.
In fairness, the Steelers’ roster isn’t built around hyper-versatile players. Their running backs are big and are meant to play the position. Their receivers aren’t built like a Deebo Samuel to wear multiple hats. Pittsburgh’s roster isn’t built through hybrid players. But that could be part of the problem, a static offense in scheme and the personnel they build it around.
While the correlation isn’t perfect, the most diverse offenses tend to be among the most high-scoring. The Ravens are fourth in points per game. The Miami Dolphins, ranking second on this list, lead the league in scoring. And the Buffalo Bills, fifth in diversity, have the sixth-highest scoring output.
At the bottom are the Steelers (28th in points per game), the Las Vegas Raiders (24th), and Minnesota Vikings (21st). The list has exceptions, the Atlanta Falcons are highly diverse but struggle to score while the Los Angeles Rams are far more static but capable of putting up points. End of the day, strong quarterback play produces points and a lack of it doesn’t. That’s the most common difference between successful and unsuccessful offenses.
While it’s easy to blame things on Matt Canada, it’s an issue that dates back five years. As Jonathan Heitritter wrote about in September, the Steelers ranked last in data that goes all the way back to 2019, making this a lengthy trend. It’s no coincidence that aside from the 2020 season, Pittsburgh has been among the league’s worst-ranked offenses.
The Steelers could stand to find a hybrid player to add an extra element to their offense. WR Calvin Austin III seems like the closest thing to that, but his lack of size and limited skill set aside from his speed has been an issue. It’s clear Pittsburgh isn’t quite sure what to do with him. TE Pat Freiermuth should be used as more of a standup receiver than he is, mitigating his in-line blocking concerns. That’s an easy way to open up the passing game and create mismatches while lightening the box in the running game.
The Steelers’ next offensive coordinator, whoever that might be, will likely look to boost their diversity numbers in order to improve their overall production.
