When the Pittsburgh Steelers hired Arthur Smith as their new offensive coordinator, they did so believing that his style of play and his overall philosphy as an offensive mind and a play caller aligned with how they wanted to play as an organization.
That was never made clearer than in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The Steelers added in a major way to their offensive line, giving Pittsburgh some physical players up front who will only help aid Smith in his run-heavy approach, giving Pittsburgh players who fit like gloves into Smith’s scheme.
For analyst Mike Renner, during an appearance on the PFF NFL Show with co-hosts Steve Palazzalo and Sam Monson, the Steelers “went all in” on Smith’s vision, which had him loving what Pittsburgh did in the draft.
“I really liked the Steelers draft. …If you’re gonna buy into your OC, and that’s obviously what they did in this draft — they went all in on Arthur Smith’s vision. I don’t think they could have had really a better draft,” Renner said, according to video via PFF on YouTube. “And now they’re in a uniquely situated and a great draft to do it, right? The great draft that loaded up on offensive lineman.
“But man, what they did the first two rounds, getting a starting left tackle and a starting center who both are like perfect scheme fits from how they can move, Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier for the offense line. And then even further down the board, Mason McCormick I like a lot too, was like my favorite developmental guard in this draft class.”
The Steelers landed some “ass kickers” up front in Fautanu, Frazier and McCormick, as offensive line coach Pat Meyer said following the selection of McCormick. The trio give the Steelers a real nasty edge to the position group. That is something they’re really going to need as they aim to play a smash-mouth style of football under Smith, much like the Tennessee Titans played during his three years as offensive coordinator there from 2018-20.
Coming into the 2024 NFL Draft, the offensive line was a group that the Steelers needed to address, period. They did that in a major way with three offensive line selections among their first five picks, doing something the Steelers hadn’t done since the 1976 NFL Draft.
With the additions in the trenches, Smith can now run the ball at will with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren and build up the play-action passing game with Russell Wilson or Justin Fields, depending on who is ultimately under center.
That’s how the Steelers leaned all in on Smith’s scheme and style. Is that always wise to be leaning all in from a roster building standpoint on an offensive coordinator who might not be in the organization long-term? Probably not, but Smith’s scheme and style is in lockstep with what the Steelers want and envision, so it all works out in the end.
Hopefully it leads to great success on the field, too.
