The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense has been dreadful to watch for the past few seasons. There are multiple reasons why, but one major issue was how predictable it was. Some fans sitting at home may have noticed that, and if that’s the case, then you can bet every defensive coordinator in the country noticed it, too, with some players even confirming this. With Matt Canada gone and Arthur Smith in as offensive coordinator, though, there should be a vast improvement in that area. However, could the Steelers take that a step further and make their offense one of the most creative in the league? One analyst seems to believe so.
Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated recently published an article breaking down some of his bold predictions for the upcoming season. One of his claims was that new Steelers’ quarterback Justin Fields will score five touchdowns as a non-quarterback. That would mean he’d have to play a wide receiver or running back role. As he explains on the MMQB NFL Podcast, it seems Orr believes the Steelers can be the first team to run an effective dual-quarterback system, with Fields and Russell Wilson sharing the field simultaneously.
”Picture third-and-six from the opponent’s 45-yard line. Russell Wilson in the shotgun, Justin Fields lined up like a running back next to him, and then you can do zone-read action,” Orr said. “Think about how many more people in that intermediate area have to be aware and focused and hesitant about what’s going on. Is Justin Fields gonna get the ball and run? Justin Fields is back there, I gotta devote more people to coverage, there’s more people back.”
Orr’s scenario sounds solid on paper, especially because Fields already has a 1,000-yard rushing season under his belt, but in practice, there might be some pitfalls to that idea. For one, Fields seems prepared to compete for the starting quarterback job, and having him work in a gimmick role like this would essentially be waving the white flag on that front.
Also, the Steelers’ depth at quarterback behind Fields and Wilson isn’t great, with career journeyman Kyle Allen being the only other player with experience behind them. If Fields gets hurt on a run play, and Wilson goes down later on, the Steelers will be in a worse spot than they were last year at quarterback.
It wouldn’t be the first time an NFL team ran a trick scheme like this, though, as the 2008 Miami Dolphins utilized the wildcat formation similarly, as Orr suggests. It worked well enough for them to win their division and make the playoffs, but it became far less effective after that season. Therefore, the Steelers could run a gimmick like this, but it probably will be more potent the less it’s used. Trying to install it to last the course of an entire season may be too much too fast.
Orr seems confident this idea is the future of the league, though. He goes on to express his confusion about how no team has given this a serious shot yet.
”I can’t believe we’re not doing this yet. I can’t believe we’re not there. I feel like once teams get there, it just makes all the sense in the world.”
Orr is steadfast in his belief that this style of offense is the future, but hopefully, it isn’t the Steelers who really put it to the test. Maybe a team with better quarterback depth or lower expectations could pull it off, but the Steelers just aren’t in a spot where they need to do something like this. With Smith as the new offensive coordinator, they should give it a full season to see if his scheme works for them. Smith has a successful history with mobile quarterbacks in his offense, but not in the manner Orr is suggesting. It could be a fun trick play to bust out in a tight game, but other than that, the Steelers should focus on fluency before they attempt any kind of tricks.
