Matt Canada being the offensive coordinator means big changes are coming for the Steelers' offense.
But a priority in those changes will be making the rushing offense effective for the first time in years. Some of that will come with new investments into running backs and offensive linemen for better talent in the run game, but Canada's schematics could play a major role as well.
The two years when the Steelers' ranked highest in rushing yards under Mike Tomlin have been 2007 (3rd) and 2010 (11th). Since the 2010 season, no Steelers team has ranked higher than 14th in rushing yards. Ironically, that was also the last time the Steelers have made the Super Bowl.
For years the Steelers lived off a run game led by an experienced offensive line and Le'Veon Bell, but eventually the team's not investing in its ground game caught up with them. The team only drafted a one offensive lineman and one running back in the top three rounds of the NFL Draft since Bell was selected in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft.
And the lack of investments in the running game was accentuated in 2020 when the Steeler ranked last in the NFL in both rushing yards and yards per attempt. But that wasn't the case in the first five games of the season when the Steelers averaged 136.8 rushing yards per game.
Had the Steelers maintained that average throughout the season they would've finished as the seventh best rushing offense in the NFL, just ahead of the Packers.
But that changed as the Steelers' offense averaged only 60.6 rushing yards across their final eleven games and the offense became one-dimensional, relying on Ben Roethlisberger's arm to win games and sustain drives.
Part of what was used early in the season to help open up the run game were more staples from Canada's offensive ideologies from his days coaching at Pitt, LSU and Maryland. The usage of motion helped the offense isolate defenders in different situations for favorable matchups that presented communication challenges for defenses and open rushing lanes for the offense.
Canada being the quarterback coach in 2020 meant he would only have a limited impact on the offense with Randy Fichtner calling the plays. Canada, like the other assistants on offense, could submit plays and ideas to Fichtner, but it was ultimately up to Fichtner which plays comprised the Steelers' playbook and how often certain schemes would be used.
Early in the season, Canada's new wrinkles to the offense were easily identifiable. Watch this jet sweep to Chase Claypool at the goal line where the Steelers catch the Eagles in man defense to give Claypool two players to beat, but both in favorable spots for the offense.
Watch as you see No. 23 for the Eagles, Rodney McLeod try to follow Claypool on his motion and how he's unable to catch up to the play on the other side of the formation. Combine that with Claypool just needing to outrace Malik Jackson on the edge and the Steelers have an easy rushing touchdown:
The idea of this play is to put these two defenders in difficult situations to win while the Steelers block the other nine defenders.
Jackson has to quickly react to Claypool's motion and abandon the chance of the run going up the middle, while McLeod goes has to work across the entire formation to have a chance to catch Claypool.
That play worked the very next week two against two bigger names in the Browns Olivier Vernon and Denzel Ward. Ward is the defender trying to run with Claypool in man coverage while Vernon is the edge defender left unblocked because the Steelers trust Claypool's speed to beat Vernon by the time he catches on:
You can see the dilemma the play causes for Vernon as he initially comes off the ball looking for the inside run and his flinching for only a second cost him his position.
This is where the wrinkles of Canada's ideas put defenders in tough situations as defenders have to commit to fast-paced plays and make decisions that could leave one player untouched and break open the play.
And that helped James Conner and the running backs as well in the earlier games too. Watch how the motion sets up this simple zone run up the middle for Conner up the middle as it starts with Vance McDonald sliding to the other side of the formation, then Claypool motions across the formation behind McDonald.
At the snap, McDonald becomes a blocker to trap the untouched Josh Sweat on the edge, while Claypool's motion drags Marcus Epps (No. 22) and Nickell Robey-Coleman (No. 31) to the right side of the formation. The rest of the Steelers' offensive line gets to work their one-on-ones to open up the middle and Conner scampers for 25 yards:
This was the balance that showed promise for the Steelers early in the season.
But as the season continued, the motions and the jet sweeps became less part of the offense as it receded to the plays Roethlisberger was most comfortable with in the short passing game.
This let defenses focus more on stopping the slants and shallow crosses that became too common for the Steelers' offense as the season progressed, as well as playing close to the line of scrimmage to better play the run.
But with Canada as offensive coordinator, the Steelers can now have a full offseason of implementing his offense, and not just wrinkles of his ideas into the schemes that will make them go next season. Now that it's his offense to run, there will be much more time than just a few practice sessions that included these concepts.
The ideas that have looked most intriguing for Canada's offense in college was how he could force multiple defenders into difficult decisions that had to be made quickly or cost the defense in a big way.
Here's an example from Pitt's 2016 win over Clemson that shows Canada's offense in full swing instead of being just a few wrinkles in the playbook. Notice how three defenders are in the backfield for Clemson as Pitt threatened the possibility of the jet sweep, all for Nathan Peterman to shovel pass the ball to fullback George Aston who was also in motion and give him a lane to score:
Typically a defender would look for Astin to block the opposite defensive end like McDonald did for the Steelers on Conner's 25-yard run I showed above against the Eagles, but here Astin catches Clemson napping and scores.
Of course, none of this can't happen without a quarterback that can have the ability to threaten the defense with the deep ball. If the Steelers get back to where they were in the final five weeks of the regular season when teams didn't respect Roethlisberger's ability to test them further down the field, they'll jump all over these runs and creative plays.
Here's an example when the Bengals sniffed out the Steelers' jet sweep late in the season as Carlos Lawson didn't care to even check for the potential run or a play action pass and brought down Claypool for a loss:
That's where balance still has to exist for the Steelers' offense.
Canada isn't just building an offense for Roethlisberger this season, as his offense will have the potential to be the blueprint for what the Steelers make look like in their first years without their franchise quarterback. That's where it's imperative for the Steelers to get this offense to work in 2021 with the new prospects added from the draft and free agency.
I expect a new running back, a new offensive lineman, possibly two or three, to be infused into the offense next season. They'll be young and have the chance to be part of a new nucleus moving forward. If a balance with Canada's concepts helps open up a run game, it could take the pressure off the quarterback, Roethlisberger or not, to have to make nearly as many plays with their arms we've seen Roethlisberger make over the past few seasons.
But that starts with Canada implementing the creative parts of his offensive concepts that were just wrinkles in the playbook in 2020 and turning them into consistent parts of the offense the Steelers find confidence in running in 2021.