Welcome back to your weekly Pittsburgh Steelers mailbag. As always, we’re here for the next hour to answer whatever is on your mind.
To your questions!
Jake Marion:When George Pickens & Mike Williams are on the field together, what position do you expect them to take (X,Y,Z)?
Alex: Those lines have definitely blurred since Antonio Brown’s trade. When he was the X and everyone else worked around that. Pickens will often now align backside, which makes him the X, to try and see if teams are rolling coverage his way or singling him up. Helps the offense know what coverage the defense is playing. But he plays all lover. As can Williams.
Williams has actually been in the slot more than people think. And he has some sneaky value as a big slot over the middle. Several of his catches with the Jets (and he only had 12 of them) came that way, including one against the Steelers. I don’t think Williams can really run anymore so the size mismatch over the middle could be on the table.
To try to give an answer, Pickens is more X and Williams more Z but offenses are so multiple and versatile it’s hard to neatly put players in those buckets anymore.
Marcel Chris Chauvet: Alex, what’s the one really out of the box trade you wouldn’t mind seeing the Steelers make?
Alex: I didn’t really have one, especially at the deadline. I was all for making a big swing at wide receiver like Brandon Aiyuk or Davante Adams. But in terms of stuff that hadn’t been talked about…I didn’t spend much time thinking about it or really wishing for something.
Danatural08: Alex, do you personally have any asperations of working for a NFL Front Office? Also, did you play football & if so, at what age?
Alex: I truthfully hadn’t spent much time focusing on it but no, not really. Nothing I plan on pursuing. I’m happy here working with Dave and the crew and building up the site. And that’s all I think about. How to improve the site and the reader experience.
Did not play football, unless YMCA flag football counts (it doesn’t). But I am really doing what I did growing up. In middle school/high school, I’d tape Steelers games, watch them back, and take notes. I still remember the click-click of the VCR as it went to rewind each time. Now I just do it online and for more than my own amusement (though definitely still for that).
Brian Tollini: When Canada was OC, there were numerous things schematically you wished would be changed/incorporated into the offense. What (if ANY) changes/additions do you have for Smith’s offense so far?
Alex: That’s something I really want to spend time drilling down once the season ends and we can all breathe a bit. But aside from the overall philosophy of being tight-end heavy, personnel changes, etc, the offense is just competent. There’s a basic structure where you can understand what the team is trying to do. A vision of run game marries boot-action marries vertical play-action.
Smith does a better job packaging and pairing plays to work one concept off another. He dresses things up more to run the same concept out of different looks so it appears different to the defense but the same for the offense. He’s more creative in the receiver route tree to scheme players open. His red zone calls are smarter to deal with the lack of space down there. He seems more flexible and able to adjust. He’s counter-punching instead of just running what the plan he brought into the game was. I’ll need to go through the tape to provide better examples but yeah, it just feels like an actual NFL offense.
chris: At the level of professional sports, do Head Coaches essentially ‘coach’ position coachs how to coach better? Is Tomlin out there teaching the DB coach how to be a better coach, or is it expected they already know everything they need to know?
Alex: Generally, no. If you’re hiring an NFL coach, you’re trusting them to do the job. If you gotta teach or micromanage, then you hired the wrong guy. That’s more for assistants to learn and watch. Watch Tomlin at training camp and it’s a lot of observing. He walks around and checks in on everyone. Sometimes he’ll look to motivate and challenge guys but he’s not teaching the players much, much less the positional coach.
There could be some behind-the-scene things he goes over with, especially for coaches just hired as they get to know the group. And Tomlin has occasionally been more hands-on in the past, typically with the secondary which is his background. I remember one year several years back him working with the CBs on jamming/re-routing as the flat defender in Cover 2.
But largely, the positional coaches are given the latitude to do their job. As they should.
AM24: Hey Alex,
Our D line is regarded as one of the best in the league, especially in terms of rushing the passer. Yet they rank in the middle of the league with just 19 team sacks and have allowed QBs to move the ball at times. I remember when almost every year the Steelers lead the league in sacks. Obviously their bye week, injuries, schematics, and game situations play into that. I would guess the sack production will increase in the second half with the addition of Herbig and Smith plus some added scheme elements. What do you think is the cause of this? Would you like to see any defensive schematic changes in the second half to pressure the QB more?
Alex: Yeah I’ve noticed that, too. It’s a little surprising because the pressure has felt pretty solid. You listed some of the reasons. The injuries at OLB, being without Highsmith and Herbig for multiple weeks. Big drop-off there with all the attention to Watt and no one making plays opposite. I like Moon but he’s still a raw and way underdeveloped pass rusher. Not blitzing as much, facing some pocket passers getting the ball out quicker, those are factors.
Even down to the Steelers’ defense not being on the field as much this year as past years. They are playing from ahead which should help their pass rush but their volume of plays is down. So opportunity for sacks decrease, too.
But I would just cite health and a lack of blitzes as the biggest culprits. With the group healthy, I’m generally fine with the scheme as-is.
