The Pittsburgh Steelers officially announced that they would be hiring Arthur Smith on Friday afternoon, though it had been known for a handful of days prior via credible reports. One of the big things that Team President Art Rooney II discussed in the hiring of the next OC early in the week was bringing someone in who could work with the personnel they have on the roster now. Rooney doesn’t want a rebuild or a total overhaul of the roster.
Arthur Smith has a track record of doing just that and discussed his offensive system in a one-on-one interview with Missi Matthews on the Steelers’ website.
“With our offense, we’ve clearly adapted to the strengths of our players, but there’s a certain identity we want to have,” Smith said in a video of the interview posted on the Steelers’ website. “Any offense I’ve been a part of, it’s gonna be a physical brand. You wanna win the line of scrimmage, but it’s also playing to strengths.”
So what are some of the strengths of the Steelers’ offense? They were a bit hard to find at different parts of the 2023 season, but by the final stretch, they showed the ability to create explosive plays and run the football with great success. Over the final three regular season games, QB Mason Rudolph and the wide receivers created nine explosive passing plays of 20 yards or more. Six of those went to WR George Pickens, two to WR Diontae Johnson, and one to TE Pat Freiermuth.
“Obviously trying to create explosives,” Smith continued on his plan for the identity of the offense. “It’s gonna come down to the National Football League, situational football, which kind of encompasses third down, two-minute and a half in the games, obviously red zone. That’s what we have to do. We have to score points. You gotta have those four-point swings and create touchdowns.”
Opening up the offense toward the end of the season with explosive plays created more space for the running game. Rooney talked about the “two-headed monster” at running back in one of his end-of-year interviews, which is a key aspect to consider. The Steelers aren’t going to abandon their run-first philosophy that was just starting to find its footing at the end of 2023. They want to expand on that and remain a physical team that wins at the line of scrimmage.
And for his claims of playing to his roster’s strengths in his past roles, the proof is in the pudding.
“We had a lot of young guys we invested in,” Smith said of his previous coaching tenure. “We had three straight years where a rookie went over a thousand yards. Guys that were productive and dealing with that and how they fit into this and what we’re building in Pittsburgh. So, all of those experiences add up.”
In 2021, rookie TE Kyle Pitts gained 1,026 receiving yards. The following year, Tyler Allgeier was drafted in the fifth round and rushed for 1,035 yards. Then in 2023, RB Bijan Robinson had 1,463 yards from scrimmage. The involvement of rookies and making big impacts right away will help a team that is likely to continue infusing talent into the roster. That also backs up his words and proves that he has been successful in forming his offense around the talent available to him. Guys like WR Calvin Austin III or TE Pat Freiermuth, who were underutilized in 2023 and provide unique skill sets to the team, could see their usage go up as Smith seeks to mold the offense around the available talent.
