Steelers Offseason Recap - Offense

 The Season is right around the corner and it's time to go over the Steelers roster! I thought about just recapping the moves they made and going from there but as I started I was realizing that I was about to cover every position and instead I should just do an overview of the entire roster. In this post I'll go through each of the positions on offense and talk about the team's moves then I'll give my thoughts on how I'm feeling about the position group. Tomorrow we'll do defense then Thursday unless something crazy happens with the Jays I'll go around the NFL talking about some moves I thought were interesting. 

Before I get into that, this is way too short for even a random thoughts post but last night Nathan Lukes was up with the bases loaded and a 3-1 count. The pitcher missed the plate inside and low for what should've been a bases loaded walk, but the umpire blew the call and called it strike 2. On the very next pitch Lukes hit a  2 run double, thanks ump! Hilarious, you always see those ump score cards and this one probably would read that he cost the Jays a run, but in a weird way he actually gained them a run? I'll take it. Anyway, Steelers:

QB

Depth Chart: Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, Skyler Thompson

The Steelers started off their offseason by letting every QB they had last year walk. They then signed familiar face Mason Rudolph to presumably be the starting QB, a move that I said was fun but we know we're not winning the Superbowl with this. They spent a 3rd round draft pick on Will Howard, someone the fans are quite excited about but fans will hype up any young player so we'll see how that goes. All offseason long they had a will they won't they type thing going with 41 year old Aaron Rodgers, the Steelers ended up being the belle of the ball and Rodgers became the QB1, to a mixed reaction from the fans. Finally the Steelers rounded out their depth by signing backup Skyler Thompson. There's almost no chance the Steelers carry 4 QBs into the season, but Will Howard is slated to start on the short term IR which allows Skyler to break camp with the team. I expect a minor move to be made here once Howard is back. 

Overall I like the overhaul the Steelers did at QB! Wilson and Fields were decent last year, but even at 41 Aaron Rodgers' upside is higher than both of those guys. There were a million articles talking about the risks of singing Rodgers, but how risky is a 1 year contract really? If this doesn't work out then the Steelers are back on the QB treadmill, where they would've been anyway. I think they're better at QB than they were last year and that's nothing to complain about

WR

Depth Chart: DK Metcalf, Calvin Austin III, Robert Woods, Roman Wilson, Scotty Miller

I talked a lot this offseason about Steelers wide receivers, there was a lot of drama. Coming into the offseason this was the biggest position of need on the offense in my opinion. George Pickens was talented a season ago, but beyond that they were very thin and we saw how the offense fell apart when Pickens missed a few games. The Steelers went out and addressed this with a bang by trading for DK Metcalf, a definitive WR1. They then promptly traded away George Pickens to the Cowboys bringing them right back to a similar position they were in last year. Essentially the Steelers wide receiver room is the same they just swapped Pickens for Metcalf, which is at least a slight upgrade. 

Overall, slightly disappointing offseason for adding WR depth. There are things to be excited about with the rag tag group of guys who will compete for WR2 though. Roman Wilson missed his entire rookie season last year and I really liked what I saw from him this preseason. Calvin Austin III is slight of build but he's still only 26 and could improve from last year. The Steelers are also super deep at TE now which could make for some interesting packages and may take some pressure off some of these receivers. There's a lot of question marks, and if you were to ask me today I'd say they still need another legit receiver, but you never know if one of these guys will rise to the occasion. 

TE

Depth Chart: Pat Freirmuth, Jonnu Smith, Darnell Washington, Connor Heyward

You can't have too many tight ends, that's what they all say right? The Steelers were already pretty deep at tight end with Pat Freirmuth established as a solid TE1. They spent a 3rd round pick in 2023 on Darnell Washington and he's improved in each of the 2 years he's played so far and has also looked impressive in the preseason. Connor Heyward was more of a hybrid TE/FB utility guy, but he's shown to have good hands when called upon as well. Then in a surprise move the Steelers acquired another solid tight end in Jonnu Smith and now I am pretty comfortable with 3 guys potentially getting snaps at TE1 this season. 

Overall I'm not unhappy with it. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith likes having a run heavy offense, more playable tight ends means more schemes involving multiple tight ends which is conducive to running the football. I am a little worried that Jonnu will block Darnell Washington though, I was really hoping to see him get more snaps this year. He's a 6'7 giant with great hands who Aaron Rodgers already has complimented as a red zone threat. Stepping back though, competition is a good thing and the best player is going to win minutes regardless. 

RB

Depth Chart: Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell, Kaleb Johnson, Trey Sermon

This was another position with a decently big shakeup! The Steelers opted not to pay their former first round pick Najee Harris this offseason. Instead they're presumably giving more snaps to Jaylen Warren, which I don't think is such a bad thing. They also went out and got Kenneth Gainwell from the Eagles, a solid 26 year old backup. If he needs to step into the starter position the Steelers are probably in trouble, but he's not a bad option to eat a few carries per game on a regular basis. The upside at this position comes from 3rd round pick this year Kaleb Johnson. Johnson in the preseason looked pretty good showing more speed than I expected and making good reads at the line of scrimmage. The scouting report on him is that he's got bad hands in the passing game which could hinder his snaps early, but if he's a good ball carrier the Steelers will get use from him. 

Overall I am happy with what they did at running back. Najee did have some good games, but I've said many times on here that he was just mid as an RB. I've long said that Jaylen Warren should be getting the RB1 snaps, though I get it was hard to justify with a first round pick on the roster at the same position. Now we'll see what Warren has! He's never played a full season getting an RB1 workload so being able to hold up is the biggest question. Behind him is a rookie, who we all hope does great but definitely could go either way, and Gainwell who's decent but not anything special. The Steelers offense is going to hinge on the running game, when healthy I have a lot of confidence that Warren is going to get the job done, just hopefully he can stay healthy. 

OL  

Depth Chart: 

RT - Troy Fautanu, Andrus Peat

RG - Mason McCormick, Max Scharping

C - Zach Frazier, Ryan McCollum

LG - Isaac Seumalo, Spencer Anderson

LT - Broderick Jones, Calvin Anderson

The Steelers are bringing back their entire offensive line from last year, which I think is a good thing! Before I go any deeper please remember that I am just some finance dude, I have no idea really how to grade offensive linemen. With that said, in my biased estimation the Steelers had an average offensive line last season, which is saying something for such a young group. Starting RT and first round pick Troy Fautanu missed his entire rookie season last year with a knee injury, and he figures to be a big piece on the OL this year. Mason McCormick's rookie season was last year as well, he was solid and should be improving. Zach Frazier was another rookie last year, are you seeing a trend here? Frazier was awesome in his rookie season and if he keeps it up is going to be the center for the Steelers for the next decade. Seumalo is the only real veteran on the offensive line, he's solid nothing crazy but gets the job done and has great hair. Then there's Broderick Jones who's coming into his third season after showing great improvement last year. 

This is a young group, but most of them played together last year and held up as an average offensive line despite giving heavy minutes to 2 rookies and missing the guy that was supposed to plug the hole at tackle all season. With Fautanu back, I expect growing pains, but still an upgrade over what they had last year there. I don't think it's crazy to think all these guys will improve this year and make the OL a strength of this team. I also don't think it's crazy to suggest that a young OL will take a while to gel and the growing pains will be apparent early in the season. It's a question mark ultimately but I like what they're building and am glad they're keeping the chemistry from last year. 

And that's that! Sorry Connor Heyward, I didn't break down full back though I think you'll be good there. Defense tomorrow, I love these types of posts they're fun for me! Go Steelers