The job of any successful NFL offensive coordinator is to tailor the offense to their quarterback and the rest of their players’ abilities. Some are better at it than others. But that doesn’t mean coaches completely change their scheme or offensive playbook from one quarterback to the next. Many of the overall philosophies and the bones of the scheme remain the same.
For Arthur Smith’s playbook, that means two- and three-TE packages and a heavy dose of running the football. Regardless of the quarterbacks who have played for him, those things have remained a staple.
With the Steelers’ quarterback situation up in the air, Pat Freiermuth talked about how the scheme might (and might not) change depending on the eventual starter.
“It’s more so based off what that quarterback was doing in the past and blending it with Art’s scheme. I think we did that with Russ [Wilson] and Art,” Freiermuth said Thursday via the Christian Kuntz Podcast on YouTube. “Every quarterback has something that they’re really good at…That’s for Art and whoever the quarterback is to decide. Whoever we get, if it’s Aaron [Rodgers], like whoever it is, even Mason [Rudolph] has his things, Aaron has his thing. It’s cool to learn from all these guys.”
Arthur Smith’s scheme was dramatically different with Russell Wilson than it was in Tennessee or in Atlanta, but the Steelers did make use of the deep ball a little bit more. That would be an example of the scheme remaining consistent while still being able to highlight and tailor the playbook to the quarterback’s skill set.
“Art has his scheme, his system, right?” Freiermuth said. “That’s for Art to decide. That’s for the quarterback to decide, Mike [Tomlin], whoever to decide what gets added from that person’s past experience. But it’s Art’s scheme. No one’s gonna come and just change the whole playbook.”
The quarterback isn’t the only thing that influences these decisions, either. Following the trade for WR DK Metcalf, the Steelers should have two dynamic deep threats in their offense. You can bet that will be reflected in the playbook regardless of who the quarterback is.
One of the big concerns with adding Aaron Rodgers is whether or not there will be a power struggle over the offense. Arthur Smith and Russell Wilson reportedly had trouble agreeing on certain points of the offense last year.
Rodgers has as much clout as any player in the league. Frankly, the Steelers would be stupid to not incorporate his ideas into the offense as a four-time league MVP and a future first-ballot Hall of Famer. According to Freiermuth, don’t expect wholesale changes to the playbook regardless of whether it’s Rodgers, Rudolph or another option.
