Rookie minicamp: Steelers set new offensive plan in motion taken on the South Side (Steelers)

KARL ROSER / STEELERS

New Steelers center Kendrick Green goes through drills Friday on the South Side.

With Matt Canada taking over as the Steelers' offensive coordinator this season, there's a feeling the team will incorporate more pre-snap motion into the game plan.

The Steelers did some of that in 2020 when Canada was hired as the team's quarterbacks coach, but got away from it as the season wore on.

They also ran the ball much less effectively. After averaging 129.7 yards rushing per game in their first six games in 2020, they finished the season at 84.4 yards per game, dead last in the league.

Without a true offseason or training camp to fully incorporate that pre-snap movement because of the pandemic, the Steelers had some very basic plans with that. Now, however, with Canada having taken over for Randy Fichtner and with what appears will be a more regular offseason of practices and training camp, the Steelers are ready to set their new offensive plans in motion -- literally.

The Steelers worked on implementing pre-snap motion and formations at their rookie mini-camp which kicked off Friday at the UPMC-Rooney Sports Complex.

"There’s a decent amount, just from the first install that we did, there’s a decent amount," said rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth, a second-round draft pick out of Penn State.

"I didn’t do a lot of pre-snap motion at Penn State. Sometimes we would motion in depending on a look or something like that. At Penn State, we kind of got set and rolled with the play we had. It’s going to take some adjusting to, but I felt good doing it today."

Canada also is expected to incorporate some inside and outside zone blocking schemes. The Steelers selected center Kendrick Green and offensive tackle Dan Moore in the third and fourth rounds of the draft, and both are well versed in running zone blocking, which requires linemen to get on the move while allowing the running back to pick his own hole via cutbacks.

That could fit first-round pick Najee Harris' running style. He ran behind both zone and gap blocking in college at Alabama, but it's apparent he can put his foot in the ground and go. His new teammates noticed that Friday.

"Najee is impressive. He’s a hell of a running back," Freiermuth said. "Watching him today, he makes very good cuts. He’s smart with the football."

What more zone blocking might not allow for as much of is something Steelers fans have been clamoring for the past few years -- the quarterback under center.

With Ben Roethlisberger not the most mobile of quarterbacks at this point in his career, one way to get the ball where it needs to go quickly is to have him hand the ball off in the shotgun. That is the basis of many zone blocking schemes.

"Under center, unless we were running a quarterback sneak, we were never under center," Green said of his experience with straight center-quarterback exchanges/ "As for as college, we were a big inside zone, outside zone team, so that’s something that I’m really used to."

Judging from the early returns with the Steelers, it might be something all of the offensive players might want to get accustomed to doing.

"It’s complex but it’s simple in the same way," Freiermuth said. "Coach Canada puts people in positions on the field where they can create mismatches. I think he does a good job of understanding what the defense’s weaknesses are. I can see that from the looks we gave the look team today and what he’s put together in camp so far."


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