Before we even get eyes on the Pittsburgh Steelers in training camp, let alone a game, I’ll call my shot. A Steelers’ offensive tackle will catch a touchdown this year. Arthur Smith will make it so.
I say that because of Smith’s background. When his offense is working at its best, everyone gets involved. Everyone touches the ball. That includes the big guys.
Two offensive linemen found the end zone in his two years as the Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator, 2019 and 2020. Tackles Dennis Kelly and David Quessenberry each scored from a yard out in 2019.
Quessenberry’s came first, finding pay dirt in Week 2. The Titans ran play-action from a goal line package to kick off the second quarter. QB Marcus Mariota found Quessenberry running a crosser over the middle, showing soft hands and adjusting back for the ball—honestly, an impressive catch.
Kelly’s felt a little more “conventional” the way linemen-touchdowns go. Playfake and a pop pass of sorts down the middle to Kelly, leaking out behind the linebackers. Pitch and catch.
No lineman scored in 2020, but the team tried to get a lineman the ball. On a 3rd and 1 versus the Cleveland Browns, the team ran Y-leak with extra offensive lineman Aaron Brewer running from right to left. He just couldn’t come down with the catch.
In Pittsburgh, Smith could do the same. There has been some reporting of the Steelers using a sixth offensive lineman in the spring, though we’ll get eyes and a better feel for it during training camp.
There are also some good athletes there. Troy Fautanu could be used in that role if he doesn’t win a starting job. A former volleyball player and one of the most athletic tackles in the draft, he even showed off his hands in a recent video. Though less likely because he’ll be a starting tackle, Broderick Jones was an accomplished high school basketball player and quality athlete. And Dylan Cook, who could be ideal in that 6th lineman role, was a college quarterback and played tight end growing up. That’d be an ideal candidate to ask to run a route or pop out in the flat, to the surprise of the defense.
If the play is called, its outcome is up to fate. Pittsburgh has run trick plays in the past and watched them succeed and fail. WR Chase Claypool threw a 1-yard touchdown in 2022, while TE Connor Heyward’s touchdown pass fell incomplete last season. Hopefully, Pittsburgh is on the goal line enough this year to have the opportunity to bust out this play. And if they do, remember what we wrote about in July.
