While the search continues for another playmaker on offense, the core pieces are now in place. Aaron Rodgers is under contract. DK Metcalf is here, never failing to turn heads with his impressive stature and athleticism. All of the running backs are in the fold, too.

But, what might the offense look like in 2025? How could it differ from Arthur Smith's first season as offensive coordinator? Here at mandatory minicamp at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, this is when the installation of this year's offense begins.

One huge misconception about Smith is that he wants to be this old-school, run-heavy team. While Smith's background certainly lends itself to having success on the ground, coaching the likes of Derrick Henry and Bijan Robinson at previous jobs, he's not married to just one way of playing offense.

"We didn't bring Aaron in here, and signed DK for all that money, to go run the wishbone," Smith said prior to Wednesday's practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "You try to play to the strengths of your team."

The strengths of the team this year just so happen to align with a lot of what Smith has done well previously. Though Smith isn't a direct branch from the Mike Shanahan coaching tree, he is directly influenced by it.

Smith learned a lot from current Packers head coach Matt LaFleur in 2018. LaFleur was offensive coordinator in Tennessee, just coming from multiple stops under Mike Shanahan, Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. Smith's offense includes a lot of the same concepts, which include a heavy usage of wide zone/outside zone rushing concepts, play-action concepts that attack the middle of the field and a good blend of West Coast passing concepts that go all the way back to Bill Walsh, the father of the West Coast offense.

The Steelers' running back room includes Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell and rookie Kaleb Johnson -- all three guys have skill sets that mesh well with a heavy dose of wide zone. The offensive line, constructed of four very recent draft picks, is very athletic, built for more wide zone/outside zone blocking. Adding Rodgers to the fold also gives the Steelers a quarterback that played for four years -- and won two MVP awards -- under LaFleur.

Knowing all of this, especially with the addition of Rodgers, I asked Smith if he is a good fit for the way Smith wants to coach offense in 2025:

"Every year is going to be different," Smith said. "You evolve depending on obviously who you've got personnel-wise, strategically things you want to evolve to. A lot of the times, that's how roster decisions get made. You see it through offseason acquisitions, free agency, the draft. When you put those strategies in place, we've evolved every year. You have to, a lot of the times, out of necessity."

The emphasis on personnel is key when trying to figure out how the offense could look in 2025 as opposed to 2024. I've previously written why last season was not a true view of Smith's offense -- the way he's ran offenses at his previous stops. He had quarterbacks in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields who either didn't want to throw to the middle of the field or couldn't do it. Thus, the team wound up with the fourth-fewest targets to the middle of the field out of play-action. He also had a running back in Najee Harris who, despite some decent per-yard averages, is not a natural outside zone/wide zone runner.

When Rodgers played for LaFleur, he was either efficient or other-worldly at attacking the middle of the field out of play-action. During those four seasons, he completed 77.3% of those passes while averaging 9.0 yards per attempt. That's 3.2% and one whole yard higher than the rest of the league. In 2021, Rodgers posted a ridiculous and league-best 158.1 passer rating on such throws. In 2022, he ranked second in the league with 37 attempts to the middle of the field out of play-action, posting a solid 108.4 passer rating.

Rodgers has four seasons of playing under LaFleur. Shanahan concepts are not foreign territory whatsoever. In fact, Rodgers already confirmed that there's a good helping of the Shanahan offense in this year's playbook, which is being installed this week at minicamp.

"The offense -- it's a lot of similar terms from the Shanahan offense, so I've got a lot of stuff already booked," Rodgers said yesterday in regards to how long it will take him to pick up the offense. "There's a couple new words and different things formationally, but I'll have it figured it out in a couple weeks probably."

Having Metcalf in the mix is interesting. While he's a true traditional X receiver that can win against all kinds of coverage, he isn't known to be the most precise route runner. Rodgers, especially in the quick game, relies heavily on timing with receivers. From the film I've watched of the Jets last season, there were far too many times Rodgers and Garrett Wilson were out of sync, and that led to incompletions and even interceptions.

There are a couple of reasons for optimism. First, Smith had A.J. Brown play for him when he was offensive coordinator with the Titans. Brown and Metcalf were not only teammates at Ole Miss, but are very similar receivers. Smith should have a good idea of how to best utilize a receiver with Metcalf's talents.

In addition, Rodgers and Metcalf have been bonding for a while now. They had a throwing session together in March out in California, far ahead of Rodgers signing with the team. They've been picking each other's brains here at minicamp, and they plan to have more time together before training camp, either throwing or going over film.

Even before everyone arrived on the South Side for minicamp, regardless of any familiarity between players and coaches, homework was done by all involved to be as prepared as possible for the season ahead.

"Yeah, I've talked to a lot of people, just as Aaron probably talked to a lot of people too," Smith said. "I mean, it's pretty normal, any player you've had. Same thing with DK. I had A.J. Brown, they're good buddies and college teammates, and he'd done his homework. I've done my homework. That's why you need to do it on the front end when you're studying the draft and know the league. Take opinions from everybody. We'll spend a ton of time together. I'm looking forward to it."

All the work that's been done thus far -- during this week and far prior to it -- has also started to bear fruit. When Metcalf addressed the media today, he was asked about his throwing session with Rodgers and he didn't even bring up anything about the actual throwing that took place.

"Just how cerebral he is and how he views the game," Metcalf said. "I like the way he views the game from a receiver’s standpoint, but also from a quarterback’s standpoint. I think I can gain a lot of knowledge just from being around him because he’s seen a lot of football. Just trying to soak up as much information as I can."

That could be a key decider in how this offense performs. The pieces seem to all be in the right place for this particular coordinator. And, ultimately, the two biggest playmakers are at quarterback and at wide receiver. But, it also has to mesh together. It has to make sense, and they all have to be on the same page.

Yes, the Steelers will still want to run the football. But, they also intend to take full advantage of having a four-time MVP at quarterback and one of the most physically gifted and productive wide receivers in the NFL.

"Our job, especially as a coach, is to play to the strengths of your players," Smith said. "We have our foundation things that don't change, but whether you lean into certain schemes year after year, you adapt, again, to the personnel you've got. That's what we try to do, ultimately to win games and set guys up for success."