Will we see much of new Pittsburgh Steelers WR Mike Williams Sunday versus the Washington Commanders? Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette doesn’t think so, predicting only 10-15 snaps at most. And that makes sense as Williams needs to learn a new offense and get comfortable with QB Russell Wilson. But what will be interesting is seeing just how offensive coordinator Arthur Smith uses him going forward.
Williams is a big-play threat with a career 15.5 yards per catch. So most people would assume that he’ll line up as an outside receiver opposite George Pickens. That’s where people expect big passing plays to come from, deep shots to outside wide receivers.
But that’s not what necessarily will happen in Pittsburgh. Fellow WR Calvin Austin III says offensive coordinator Arthur Smith wants to create mismatches regardless of conventional wisdom.
“With this offense, you get moved around so much,” Austin said during an appearance with Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show on Friday. “That’s one of the things that I feel like [[Smith’s] gonna move you around to your strengths and to create mismatches. So, most definitely Mike has been outside, but in our offense, you could see him inside, you could see him outside… With Mike, he’s super smart, too. So he’ll be able to pick up on it all. And we’ve been able to move all of us around to create, to put the defense in stress.”
Williams is no stranger to taking snaps as a slot or inside receiver, either. Per Pro Football Focus, he’s lined up in the slot at least 20 percent of his offensive snaps in three of his first seven seasons. And with the New York Jets this year, Williams had taken 26.6 percent of his snaps in the slot. He was off to his second-highest percentage in his career in 2023 before tearing his ACL. He lined up in the slot on 26.6 percent of his offensive snaps before the injury.
So Williams has experience playing both inside and out. And he’ll line up wherever he’s needed to make plays. That’s good news for Smith.
Now, if you’re thinking that it’s one thing to move receivers like Austin and Van Jefferson around the formation, they aren’t the only ones lining up in different spots across the formation. Austin says Smith has even been moving George Pickens around in an attempt to create favorable matchups and prevent defenses from taking him away.
And the numbers bear that out. As a rookie, Pickens lined up in the slot on 15.4 percent of his offensive snaps. In 2023, that percentage increased slightly to 16.6. But there has been no gradual increase in 2024. Through eight games, Pickens has lined up in the slot on 30.4 percent of his offensive snaps. That’s more than Williams ever has had (28.3 percent in 2019).
We shouldn’t expect a lot of complex routes and plays with Mike Williams early in his Steelers tenure. But once he’s comfortable, Arthur Smith won’t have any issue moving Williams around the formation to best suit the offense’s needs. Smith has already talked about how Williams fits what the Steelers want at wide receiver. And hopefully, all of that comes together to create even more explosive plays from the Steelers’ offense and Mike Williams.
