There’s a lot of discourse surrounding what the Pittsburgh Steelers can do this year with Aaron Rodgers. Now that he’s signing with them, it’s curious what the Steelers’ season will look like. While they probably won’t be Super Bowl contenders, Rodgers should make them better. However, this union has the potential to be a disaster, too. That’s how Rodgers’ time with the New York Jets went. Analyst Matt Harmon thinks that it’s more likely that things will also go poorly for Rodgers in Pittsburgh.
“I actually think that it’s probably going to be closer to Matt Ryan in Indianapolis,” Harmon said recently on NFL Daily. “I just don’t have a lot of faith in this ecosystem; I don’t have a lot of faith in the pass catchers around Rodgers. And I don’t have faith in Rodgers being flexible enough at this point with what he wants to do offensively to meet Arthur Smith in whatever the middle wants to be.
“I think it could look closer from an offensive perspective to what Smith had in his first year with, ironically, Matt Ryan with the Atlanta Falcons, where they weren’t so stringent in the heavy personnel stuff. They were eighth in pass rate that year, which is a far cry from anything else that Arthur Smith has ever had in his offensive time as a play caller. To me, I do think it probably trends more towards the nightmare outcome than it does the rosy outlook.”
It’s fair to question Rodgers’ fit within Smith’s offense. They might have conflicting ideologies. For most of his career, Rodgers has done his best work operating out of shotgun. Meanwhile, Smith’s offense tends to work best with the quarterback under center, utilizing a lot of play-action.
However, Rodgers and Smith have reportedly kept in contact this offseason. That seems to suggest that the two are trying to collaborate on the Steelers’ offense. They’re both professionals, and it’s likely that they’ll find a nice middle ground. There might be some growing pains for Rodgers, but considering he’s joining a new team, that should be expected.
Another concern is that Rodgers isn’t in his prime anymore. Ryan with the Colts might be an apt comparison. That was the final year of his career, and he looked like a shell of his former self. In 12 games, he threw for just over 3,000 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions.
Rodgers could suffer a similar drop-off this year. However, it’s important to note that Rodgers looked like he had gas left in the tank last year. He didn’t look as done as Ryan did. His arm talent still seems special, which should help him continue to be effective.
Still, it’s possible that Rodgers takes another step back this year as Harmon predicts. Pittsburgh’s offense could have other problems, too. The Steelers’ offensive line is largely unproven, which could compromise what Rodgers can do. Also, they could stand to add another playmaker on offense. Reportedly, they’ve been trying to, but until they do, that remains a weakness on their team.
Despite all of that, the Steelers seem to be confident that Rodgers will succeed this year. If he looks like he did to end last season, then he could be their best quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger. Maybe they’ll even finally win a playoff game. That would certainly not be the nightmare outcome for Pittsburgh.
