Much of the attention on the Pittsburgh Steelers entering the 2024 season centers on the new faces under center in quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, as well as new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith on the offensive side of the football.
After slogging through a tough 2023 season that saw the Steelers score just 18.1 points per game and fire offensive coordinator Matt Canada ahead of their Week 12 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers set out to try and fix the problems on that side of the ball.
Wilson and Fields are upgrades over Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph, while Smith is a massive upgrade over Canada, who was in over his head and should have never been kept for a third season.
While there are some questions about Wilson at this point in his career and his fit in Smith’s offense, particularly using the middle of the field, there is a lot of excitement regarding the Steelers’ offense in general.
Yahoo! Sports’ Nate Tice, during an appearance on the Jim Rome Show on Twitter/X Tuesday afternoon, stated that he is excited to see how Smith and Wilson make it work, and believes that the Steelers could surprise some teams offensively.
“I think the Steelers’ run game is gonna be fantastic. I’m very excited to watch that,” Tice said. “I’m excited to see how Arthur Smith makes this work ’cause if they do, it could be an interesting offense, like one that kind of sneaks up on some teams because they can create some explosive plays.”
.@nate_tice on why Russell Wilson could be an awkward fit in Arthur Smith’s offense. pic.twitter.com/eRVaAilqZr
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) July 9, 2024
The Steelers’ run game should be really good in 2024, thanks to an offensive line that completed its rebuild this offseason under GM Omar Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl, adding rookies Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier in the first two rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Fautanu should slot in at right tackle rather quickly with Broderick Jones shifting back to left tackle. Frazier will plug a major hole at center where the Steelers have struggled to find an answer since the retirement of Maurkice Pouncey after the 2020 season.
It helps that Smith’s scheme will be run-heavy, too. A scheme that has seen some terrific performances on the ground dating back to Smith’s time in Tennessee with Derrick Henry and then in Atlanta with Tyler Allgeier and Bijan Robinson.
With Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren in the fold, the Steelers should be able to run the ball, and run it well in 2024. That could open things up in the passing game for Wilson to create explosive plays downfield to the likes of wide receiver George Pickens and tight end Pat Freiermuth.
The Steelers generated quite a few explosive plays down the stretch in 2023. Now with improvements across the board offensively, those explosive plays should be there once again, and then some.
That could surprise some teams, like Tice points out.
But it’ll come down to the pairing of Smith and Wilson and how the two can find common ground as play caller and passer and get the best out of each other, leading to success for the Steelers’ offense overall.
