The Pittsburgh Steelers landed offensive coordinator Arthur Smith this offseason after the Atlanta Falcons fired Smith after spending the last three seasons as the team’s head coach. While there’s a lot of optimism about Smith in Pittsburgh, he needs to prove he’s still a good play-caller. Atlanta’s offense was never able to take off under Smith, largely due to sub-optimal quarterback play, and CBS Sports believes that Smith is under a lot of pressure to succeed with his new opportunity. Smith was named one of 12 non-quarterbacks under the most pressure to succeed in 2024 by CBS Sports, coming in at No. 4.
“Relieved from his head position with the Atlanta Falcons, Smith certainly has better options at quarterback in Pittsburgh: the savvy, newly motivated Russell Wilson and the ultra-athletic Justin Fields. Even still, his skill weapons are so-so, and a year after Kenny Pickett went to waste amid an in-season coordinator change, all eyes will be on how his play calls help — or hurt — Steel City’s playoff hopes,” Cody Benjamin wrote.
Smith caught more criticism in the fantasy football community than from people around the league last season, but the team’s third straight 7-10 season under him in 2023 was enough for the Falcons to make a coaching change. In Pittsburgh, he’ll have the opportunity to build an offense around Russell Wilson or Justin Fields (or incorporate both) and try to prove he’s still a top play-caller in the league like he was considered during his time with the Tennessee Titans.
The Steelers do have some talent at their skill positions, with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren in the backfield and Pat Freiermuth and George Pickens as pass catchers, but their options at receiver behind Pickens are going to need to step up. If Smith can get the most out of a group made up of guys who would likely be depth pieces elsewhere like Van Jefferson, Quez Watkins and Calvin Austin III, that would go a long way toward making Pittsburgh’s offense good.
Smith’s creativity and ability to tailor his scheme week to week should benefit Pittsburgh, and it’s hard to see Smith being worse than Matt Canada was for the Steelers. But there’s no doubt there’s going to be a lot of pressure on him running an offense that’s had its struggles with a front office and fan base that are hungry for real playoff success for the first time since 2016. Even though he’s an upgrade as a play caller, it’s not going to be an easy task figuring out how to get the most out of Pittsburgh’s offense. That’s something Smith will need to figure out.
I have high hopes for Arthur Smith in Pittsburgh, but he’s not taking over an easy situation. How the offense does under him is going to be one of the bigger stories to follow around the league this season.
