The Pittsburgh Steelers offense has struggled in recent memory. Sure, there have been some standout performances. WR George Pickens exploded onto the scene as a rookie in 2022. Despite some lapses in effort, he improved in 2023. The running game has been fairly consistent overall as well. To most people, the biggest problems have been the quarterback play and the offensive coordinator.
However, the truth is the Steelers have struggled across the board on offense for the last five years. It goes beyond execution at the quarterback position and issues with play calling. The players on the field around the quarterback simply haven’t done that great either. How do we know?
Ian Hartitz posted his “Supporting Cast Rating” on Monday encompassing the last five NFL seasons. This encompasses Pro Football Focus grades for how well players run the ball, catch the ball, and block in both the passing and running games. The Steelers have ranked 25th or lower in four of the last five seasons. The lone “high” spot came in 2022 when they ranked 15th in the league. They have an average rank of 24.8, 28th in the league.
The only teams with a worse five-year average are the Los Angeles Chargers, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the New York Giants, and the New York Jets. Of that group, only the Chargers have managed at least one season ranking in the top half of the league.
Now it can be hard to separate a quarterback’s performance from how well a wide receiver plays. You can probably also factor in how an offensive coordinator schemes the offense. However, there are plenty of instances on a football field where a player either wins or loses a rep against the player in front of him. By trying to look at every single snap, you can get an idea of how well a player is performing independent of the other issues.
So you can take this ranking with a grain of salt, certainly. That being said, we know how the Steelers have struggled to find talent in the draft and nurture it accordingly. They failed to develop offensive linemen in Kendrick Green and Kevin Dotson, the latter of whom has gone elsewhere and played quite well. They didn’t pick up Najee Harris’ fifth-year option.
We can also see how the Steelers approached the 2024 NFL Draft. They have seen the issues with the pass and run blocking, too. Why else would they draft three offensive linemen?
The entire offense has struggled for a myriad of reasons, but the “supporting cast” around the Steelers’ litany of quarterbacks in the last five seasons hasn’t exactly helped the team, either.
