Steelers 2025 Preview: An offense that makes sense
We're on the eve of training camp. On Wednesday, players will report to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., marking the official end of the offseason. With the 2024 season completely in the past, how can this team improve in 2025?
First, we're going to take a look at the offensive side of the ball. Looking at how the team was constructed when they last played, Omar Khan has replaced nine of 22 starters. That's a lot of change, and the offense has seen more change than the defense.
Before we dive into the details, here's a projected depth chart for the offense:
QUARTERBACK
• Starter: *Aaron Rodgers • Backup: *Mason Rudolph • Third string: *Will Howard
* - was not on 2024 roster
It's a brand new quarterback room, though the Steelers wanted to bring back Justin Fields, who opted to sign with the Jets. Rudolph was brought back first, right at the official start of free agency, signing a two-year, $8 million contract. The Steelers went into a highly-publicized courtship of Rodgers, which reached its conclusion just days prior to the start of mandatory minicamp. Meanwhile, Howard was selected in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, fresh off a national championship with Ohio State.
RUNNING BACK
• Starter: Jaylen Warren • Backup: *Kaleb Johnson • Third string: *Kenneth Gainwell
It's also a new era at running back. After four seasons as the team's starter, Najee Harris left in free agency to sign with the Chargers. That leaves Warren to take his spot atop the depth chart. And in free agency, Gainwell was brought in to be another third-down option and contributor in the kick return game. With running back still a pressing need, Johnson was selected in the third round of the draft after having a monster season at Iowa.
WIDE RECEIVER
• X receiver (WR1): *DK Metcalf • Z receiver (WR2): *Robert Woods • F/slot receiver (WR3): Calvin Austin III • WR4: Roman Wilson • WR5: Ben Skowronek
The first significant move of the offseason came on the eve of free agency when the Steelers traded a 2025 second-round pick for Metcalf. The depth in the receiver room was fortified a bit later in free agency when Woods was added to the mix. However, the tantalizing idea of Metcalf and George Pickens terrorizing defenses was put to rest when the Steelers opted to trade Pickens to the Cowboys for a 2026 third-round pick. While it was tempting to keep Pickens, the team thought it was best to move on from the polarizing receiver. From the team's perspective, his off-the-field issues superseded the potential reward on the field.
Trading Pickens does leave a bit of a void, as Khan is still pursuing other options to be the team's WR2 in 2025. So, there's a good chance this depth chart looks different when the 53-man roster is finalized at the end of August.
TIGHT END
• TE1: Pat Freiermuth • TE2: *Jonnu Smith • TE3: Darnell Washington • TE4: Connor Heyward
The tight end position welcomes one significant addition. Just a few weeks ago, the Steelers acquired both Smith and Jalen Ramsey from the Dolphins, moving on from Minkah Fitzpatrick. Smith was one of the most productive tight ends in football last season, catching 88 passes for 884 yards and eight touchdowns. He's a versatile weapon that can line up in the slot or out wide, giving Arthur Smith the ability to use multiple tight ends consistently in the passing game.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Starters • Left Tackle: Broderick Jones • Left Guard: Isaac Seumalo • Center: Zach Frazier • Right Guard: Mason McCormick • Right Tackle: Troy Fautanu
Backups • Center: Ryan McCollum • Swing Tackle: Calvin Anderson • Guard/Tackle: Spencer Anderson
Offensive line is the only position that saw no true additions, though it wouldn't be surprising to see some depth added over the next several weeks as players around the league are cut or made available via trade. However, the lack of movement on the offensive line reinforces the team's priority of developing their young players here into legitimate long-term pieces. Jones and Fautanu are both first-round picks. Frazier is a second-round pick. McCormick is a fourth-rounder. The team has invested valuable draft capital in these players in hopes they can all play together for a long time.
____________________
The collection of talent the Steelers have on offense comes with some questions. How much does Rodgers have left in the tank? Is Warren capable of carrying the load at running back? Johnson's talented, but will he succeed in the NFL? Metcalf is a proven commodity, but how will things work with Rodgers? Perhaps above all other questions, will this young offensive line take a legitimate step toward being a reliable unit?
However, it's very important to note that the players Khan has brought in this year are a much better fit for the way Arthur Smith wants to coach offense. Last year, Russell Wilson was the starting quarterback and Harris was the primary running back. While Wilson likes to throw the ball deep, which aligns with Smith's desire to stress defenses vertically in the passing game, he does not like to throw to the middle of the field. Smith wants to be able to attack defenses over the middle, especially out of play-action.
Last season, the Steelers had just 15 play-action dropbacks in which the middle of the field was targeted, the fourth-lowest mark in the NFL. The rest of the numbers last season on play-action passes targeting the middle of the field are even less encouraging:
• Passer rating: 106.0 (15th) • Yards per attempt: 6.27 (31st) • Completion percentage over expected (CPOE): -0.3% (28th) • Average depth of target (ADOT): 5.9 (31st) • Total air yards: 82 (30th) • First-read percentage: 26.7% (32nd) • Time to throw: 3.3 seconds (second-longest) • Pressure rate: 26.7% (13th) • Check-down rate: 40% (32nd)
That's horrific. And, it flies in the face of what Smith did previously. When he was the Titans offensive coordinator in 2020, Ryan Tannehill had 9.5 yards per attempt (4th) and an average depth of target of 9.7 yards (5th) when throwing out of play-action, according to Sports Info Solutions (SIS). Wilson and Fields did nothing but check the ball down in these instances, despite getting pretty decent protection.
The reason why Smith didn't call for a lot of play-action concepts that attacked the middle of the field is because of who he had at quarterback. As he's stated multiple times in interviews, he builds the offense around the talent. Wilson's game was all outside the numbers, which is why the majority of the passing concepts went to those areas of the field.
With Harris at running back, Smith also had to tailor the running game to his strengths. Harris has shown that he's a better gap runner, specifically down the stretch in 2023. Thus, Smith had more gap concepts and less wide/outside zone in the offense, despite the latter being Smith's bread and butter.
According to SIS, the Steelers ran outside zone concepts 131 times last season, sixth-most in the NFL. That sounds like a lot, but just one season prior when Smith was in Atlanta, the Falcons ran it 202 times, the most in the NFL.
Why shift away from that? Because Harris wasn't trusted to consistently execute those runs on a regular basis. That proved to be true with an average of just 3.1 yards per attempt on outside zone runs.
This year, with Rodgers at quarterback, Smith has someone who can execute the concepts he's run successfully in previous jobs. Smith learned from Packers heah coach Matt LaFleur while the two were in Tennessee together in 2018. LaFleur is a direct branch from the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree, making Smith connected, as well, despite never coaching under Shanahan.
"The offense -- it's a lot of similar terms from the Shanahan offense," Rodgers said during minicamp. "I've got a lot of stuff already booked."
Rodgers also played four seasons under LaFlaur, winning MVP awards in 2020 and 2021. During those four seasons, 38.5% of Rodgers' attempts targeted the middle of the field, about 7.5% less often than the league average, according to SIS. However, 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 ranked 15th with 22 attempts to the middle of the field out of play-action, according to FantasyPoints.com. On those attempts, Rodgers posted a ridiculous and league-best 158.1 passer rating. In 2022, a far less impressive season, 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.
After watching every single dropback of Rodgers' 2024 season with the Jets, I can attest that Rodgers still has a very live arm and a quick release. He's still able to make ridiculous throws like this beauty late in the season against the Rams:
Rodgers also isn't as immobile as people portray him to be. He just can't move the way he did 10 years ago.
At running back, the trio of Warren, Johnson and Gainwell all have extensive history in being good wide/outside zone runners. Though Johnson is a bigger back at 6-1 and 224 pounds, he has both the ability and experience as an wide/outside zone runner. During his final season at Iowa, Johnson ran outside zone or mid zone (a slight variation in which the B-gap is the primary attack point) 79% of the time, according to SIS.
With who he has at quarterback and running back, Smith will be able to run an offense much more similar to what he's done in the past. Remember, this is a guy who's coached a top-10 and top-5 offense in both years he was offensive coordinator of the Titans, despite having much less talented quarterbacks than Rodgers.
Wide receiver and tight end is interesting here. The receivers position is better than it was last season, just by swapping Pickens for Metcalf. However, the potential addition of a WR2-type receiver is still needed for Smith to run his true offense. Having two legitimate pass-catching threats at tight end in Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith doesn't negate that. With the Titans in 2020, Smith's offense used 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) 35% of the time, according to Sharp Football Analysis, which led the NFL. However, they still used 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end) more often at 38%. In that offense, Corey Davis was WR2 while A.J. Brown was WR1, and Davis was just 16 yards shy of having a 1,000-yard season, even on a team that ranked second in the NFL in rushing attempts.
Smith's offense can evolve. Any WR2 addition doesn't have to be a potential Pro Bowl player. It can just be a nice complement to Metcalf and the dangerous duo at tight end. And, Austin will be utilized out of the slot, as well, just as he was most often last season. Smith likes him in that role. One thing to watch in training camp will be how all of these players will be used.
For the Steelers to exceed what they did on offense last season, ranking 16th in the league in scoring, the offensive line has to take a step forward. That's why, no matter what, Jones will be left to sink or swim at left tackle. They traded up three spots in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft to take him. Now that he's switching to his natural side after two season playing right tackle, there are no more excuses for him, especially because the team has to make a decision on his fifth-year option next offseason.
There's some pressure on Fautanu, as well. He played well in his 55 snaps as a rookie, but missing pretty much the entire season with a dislocated knee cap threw his longevity into question since knee injuries were a concern in college. He's far from a proven product, so the Steelers need him to not only stay healthy, but play well.
Frazier is a potential star in the making. He played 975 snaps last season, and according to our own Matt Williamson, he had just two blown blocks in the run game, one sack allowed and an NFL-best pressure rate among all centers. With him anchoring the line, that could raise the floor of the unit if he takes another step forward in his second season.
McCormick stepped in and started 14 games for the Steelers last season, though he was drafted with the intention of learning for a season behind James Daniels. When Daniels went down with a season-ending Achilles injury, McCormick was thrown into the fire. All things considered, he did quite well. How he improves in his second season, along with all the other younger guys up front, will be crucial for this team. Although, there's much less pressure on McCormick than Jones or Fautanu.
Nobody should expect this offense to be among the league's very best. Though there are some very exciting pieces, it's still a young unit with an all-time great quarterback that's past his prime. However, if Rodgers can stay healthy and play at his peak of what he did in 2024, he'll be the best quarterback this team has had since Ben Roethlisberger blew his arm out six quarters into the 2019 season. If that's the case, this is a unit that might be able to do its fair share of damage.
In addition, the Steelers won't be asking Rodgers to be their savior as the Jets did. They wanted Rodgers to be the engine that led them down the field. He was second in the NFL in pass attempts while the Jets finished last in rushing attempts. That won't be the case in Pittsburgh.
With a running back room that better fits how Smith wants to run the ball, along with an offensive line that's very athletic and built to execute more zone blocking, the Steelers should be able to support Rodgers with a healthy running game. At that point, all Rodgers has to do is provide competent quarterback play. Only Rodgers also still has the ability to put the Superman cape on a few times per game.
Should that vision come to fruition, this could be one of the more underrated units in the league.
THE ASYLUM
Steelers 2025 Preview: An offense that makes sense
We're on the eve of training camp. On Wednesday, players will report to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., marking the official end of the offseason. With the 2024 season completely in the past, how can this team improve in 2025?
First, we're going to take a look at the offensive side of the ball. Looking at how the team was constructed when they last played, Omar Khan has replaced nine of 22 starters. That's a lot of change, and the offense has seen more change than the defense.
Before we dive into the details, here's a projected depth chart for the offense:
QUARTERBACK
• Starter: *Aaron Rodgers
• Backup: *Mason Rudolph
• Third string: *Will Howard
* - was not on 2024 roster
It's a brand new quarterback room, though the Steelers wanted to bring back Justin Fields, who opted to sign with the Jets. Rudolph was brought back first, right at the official start of free agency, signing a two-year, $8 million contract. The Steelers went into a highly-publicized courtship of Rodgers, which reached its conclusion just days prior to the start of mandatory minicamp. Meanwhile, Howard was selected in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, fresh off a national championship with Ohio State.
RUNNING BACK
• Starter: Jaylen Warren
• Backup: *Kaleb Johnson
• Third string: *Kenneth Gainwell
It's also a new era at running back. After four seasons as the team's starter, Najee Harris left in free agency to sign with the Chargers. That leaves Warren to take his spot atop the depth chart. And in free agency, Gainwell was brought in to be another third-down option and contributor in the kick return game. With running back still a pressing need, Johnson was selected in the third round of the draft after having a monster season at Iowa.
WIDE RECEIVER
• X receiver (WR1): *DK Metcalf
• Z receiver (WR2): *Robert Woods
• F/slot receiver (WR3): Calvin Austin III
• WR4: Roman Wilson
• WR5: Ben Skowronek
The first significant move of the offseason came on the eve of free agency when the Steelers traded a 2025 second-round pick for Metcalf. The depth in the receiver room was fortified a bit later in free agency when Woods was added to the mix. However, the tantalizing idea of Metcalf and George Pickens terrorizing defenses was put to rest when the Steelers opted to trade Pickens to the Cowboys for a 2026 third-round pick. While it was tempting to keep Pickens, the team thought it was best to move on from the polarizing receiver. From the team's perspective, his off-the-field issues superseded the potential reward on the field.
Trading Pickens does leave a bit of a void, as Khan is still pursuing other options to be the team's WR2 in 2025. So, there's a good chance this depth chart looks different when the 53-man roster is finalized at the end of August.
TIGHT END
• TE1: Pat Freiermuth
• TE2: *Jonnu Smith
• TE3: Darnell Washington
• TE4: Connor Heyward
The tight end position welcomes one significant addition. Just a few weeks ago, the Steelers acquired both Smith and Jalen Ramsey from the Dolphins, moving on from Minkah Fitzpatrick. Smith was one of the most productive tight ends in football last season, catching 88 passes for 884 yards and eight touchdowns. He's a versatile weapon that can line up in the slot or out wide, giving Arthur Smith the ability to use multiple tight ends consistently in the passing game.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Starters
• Left Tackle: Broderick Jones
• Left Guard: Isaac Seumalo
• Center: Zach Frazier
• Right Guard: Mason McCormick
• Right Tackle: Troy Fautanu
Backups
• Center: Ryan McCollum
• Swing Tackle: Calvin Anderson
• Guard/Tackle: Spencer Anderson
Offensive line is the only position that saw no true additions, though it wouldn't be surprising to see some depth added over the next several weeks as players around the league are cut or made available via trade. However, the lack of movement on the offensive line reinforces the team's priority of developing their young players here into legitimate long-term pieces. Jones and Fautanu are both first-round picks. Frazier is a second-round pick. McCormick is a fourth-rounder. The team has invested valuable draft capital in these players in hopes they can all play together for a long time.
____________________
The collection of talent the Steelers have on offense comes with some questions. How much does Rodgers have left in the tank? Is Warren capable of carrying the load at running back? Johnson's talented, but will he succeed in the NFL? Metcalf is a proven commodity, but how will things work with Rodgers? Perhaps above all other questions, will this young offensive line take a legitimate step toward being a reliable unit?
However, it's very important to note that the players Khan has brought in this year are a much better fit for the way Arthur Smith wants to coach offense. Last year, Russell Wilson was the starting quarterback and Harris was the primary running back. While Wilson likes to throw the ball deep, which aligns with Smith's desire to stress defenses vertically in the passing game, he does not like to throw to the middle of the field. Smith wants to be able to attack defenses over the middle, especially out of play-action.
Last season, the Steelers had just 15 play-action dropbacks in which the middle of the field was targeted, the fourth-lowest mark in the NFL. The rest of the numbers last season on play-action passes targeting the middle of the field are even less encouraging:
• Passer rating: 106.0 (15th)
• Yards per attempt: 6.27 (31st)
• Completion percentage over expected (CPOE): -0.3% (28th)
• Average depth of target (ADOT): 5.9 (31st)
• Total air yards: 82 (30th)
• First-read percentage: 26.7% (32nd)
• Time to throw: 3.3 seconds (second-longest)
• Pressure rate: 26.7% (13th)
• Check-down rate: 40% (32nd)
That's horrific. And, it flies in the face of what Smith did previously. When he was the Titans offensive coordinator in 2020, Ryan Tannehill had 9.5 yards per attempt (4th) and an average depth of target of 9.7 yards (5th) when throwing out of play-action, according to Sports Info Solutions (SIS). Wilson and Fields did nothing but check the ball down in these instances, despite getting pretty decent protection.
The reason why Smith didn't call for a lot of play-action concepts that attacked the middle of the field is because of who he had at quarterback. As he's stated multiple times in interviews, he builds the offense around the talent. Wilson's game was all outside the numbers, which is why the majority of the passing concepts went to those areas of the field.
With Harris at running back, Smith also had to tailor the running game to his strengths. Harris has shown that he's a better gap runner, specifically down the stretch in 2023. Thus, Smith had more gap concepts and less wide/outside zone in the offense, despite the latter being Smith's bread and butter.
According to SIS, the Steelers ran outside zone concepts 131 times last season, sixth-most in the NFL. That sounds like a lot, but just one season prior when Smith was in Atlanta, the Falcons ran it 202 times, the most in the NFL.
Why shift away from that? Because Harris wasn't trusted to consistently execute those runs on a regular basis. That proved to be true with an average of just 3.1 yards per attempt on outside zone runs.
This year, with Rodgers at quarterback, Smith has someone who can execute the concepts he's run successfully in previous jobs. Smith learned from Packers heah coach Matt LaFleur while the two were in Tennessee together in 2018. LaFleur is a direct branch from the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree, making Smith connected, as well, despite never coaching under Shanahan.
"The offense -- it's a lot of similar terms from the Shanahan offense," Rodgers said during minicamp. "I've got a lot of stuff already booked."
Rodgers also played four seasons under LaFlaur, winning MVP awards in 2020 and 2021. During those four seasons, 38.5% of Rodgers' attempts targeted the middle of the field, about 7.5% less often than the league average, according to SIS. However, 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 ranked 15th with 22 attempts to the middle of the field out of play-action, according to FantasyPoints.com. On those attempts, Rodgers posted a ridiculous and league-best 158.1 passer rating. In 2022, a far less impressive season, 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.
After watching every single dropback of Rodgers' 2024 season with the Jets, I can attest that Rodgers still has a very live arm and a quick release. He's still able to make ridiculous throws like this beauty late in the season against the Rams:
Rodgers also isn't as immobile as people portray him to be. He just can't move the way he did 10 years ago.
At running back, the trio of Warren, Johnson and Gainwell all have extensive history in being good wide/outside zone runners. Though Johnson is a bigger back at 6-1 and 224 pounds, he has both the ability and experience as an wide/outside zone runner. During his final season at Iowa, Johnson ran outside zone or mid zone (a slight variation in which the B-gap is the primary attack point) 79% of the time, according to SIS.
With who he has at quarterback and running back, Smith will be able to run an offense much more similar to what he's done in the past. Remember, this is a guy who's coached a top-10 and top-5 offense in both years he was offensive coordinator of the Titans, despite having much less talented quarterbacks than Rodgers.
Wide receiver and tight end is interesting here. The receivers position is better than it was last season, just by swapping Pickens for Metcalf. However, the potential addition of a WR2-type receiver is still needed for Smith to run his true offense. Having two legitimate pass-catching threats at tight end in Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith doesn't negate that. With the Titans in 2020, Smith's offense used 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) 35% of the time, according to Sharp Football Analysis, which led the NFL. However, they still used 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end) more often at 38%. In that offense, Corey Davis was WR2 while A.J. Brown was WR1, and Davis was just 16 yards shy of having a 1,000-yard season, even on a team that ranked second in the NFL in rushing attempts.
Smith's offense can evolve. Any WR2 addition doesn't have to be a potential Pro Bowl player. It can just be a nice complement to Metcalf and the dangerous duo at tight end. And, Austin will be utilized out of the slot, as well, just as he was most often last season. Smith likes him in that role. One thing to watch in training camp will be how all of these players will be used.
For the Steelers to exceed what they did on offense last season, ranking 16th in the league in scoring, the offensive line has to take a step forward. That's why, no matter what, Jones will be left to sink or swim at left tackle. They traded up three spots in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft to take him. Now that he's switching to his natural side after two season playing right tackle, there are no more excuses for him, especially because the team has to make a decision on his fifth-year option next offseason.
There's some pressure on Fautanu, as well. He played well in his 55 snaps as a rookie, but missing pretty much the entire season with a dislocated knee cap threw his longevity into question since knee injuries were a concern in college. He's far from a proven product, so the Steelers need him to not only stay healthy, but play well.
Frazier is a potential star in the making. He played 975 snaps last season, and according to our own Matt Williamson, he had just two blown blocks in the run game, one sack allowed and an NFL-best pressure rate among all centers. With him anchoring the line, that could raise the floor of the unit if he takes another step forward in his second season.
McCormick stepped in and started 14 games for the Steelers last season, though he was drafted with the intention of learning for a season behind James Daniels. When Daniels went down with a season-ending Achilles injury, McCormick was thrown into the fire. All things considered, he did quite well. How he improves in his second season, along with all the other younger guys up front, will be crucial for this team. Although, there's much less pressure on McCormick than Jones or Fautanu.
Nobody should expect this offense to be among the league's very best. Though there are some very exciting pieces, it's still a young unit with an all-time great quarterback that's past his prime. However, if Rodgers can stay healthy and play at his peak of what he did in 2024, he'll be the best quarterback this team has had since Ben Roethlisberger blew his arm out six quarters into the 2019 season. If that's the case, this is a unit that might be able to do its fair share of damage.
In addition, the Steelers won't be asking Rodgers to be their savior as the Jets did. They wanted Rodgers to be the engine that led them down the field. He was second in the NFL in pass attempts while the Jets finished last in rushing attempts. That won't be the case in Pittsburgh.
With a running back room that better fits how Smith wants to run the ball, along with an offensive line that's very athletic and built to execute more zone blocking, the Steelers should be able to support Rodgers with a healthy running game. At that point, all Rodgers has to do is provide competent quarterback play. Only Rodgers also still has the ability to put the Superman cape on a few times per game.
Should that vision come to fruition, this could be one of the more underrated units in the league.
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