8 BIG CHANGES Arthur Smith Should Implement To UNLOCK The Steelers Offense Down The Stretch

8 BIG CHANGES Arthur Smith Should Implement To UNLOCK The Steelers Offense Down The Stretch

[Music] Today on Steelers Talk, I’m going to be revealing my eight changes that I would make to the Pittsburgh Steelers offense if I were in the shoes of offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. I certainly think this Steelers offense hasn’t been a train wreck by any stretch of the imagination this year, but certainly hasn’t been terrific. And I think that this offense still has another gear that it can reach if they make some of changes down the stretch here. And these would be my uh my prescribed changes that I would make if I were in charge of the Steelers offense. So, kick us off down there in the comment section. Uh what is the number one issue that the Steelers offense must address down the stretch? Let me know what you guys think down there in the comments section. Give me your ideas, give me your thoughts. I always love uh reading those comments down there to uh so I want to see what you guys think. Uh so now let’s get started here with uh where Pittsburgh currently ranks offensively and all the major metrics that you look at. And you know they are 12th in points per game, but that’s really aided by the fact that defensive touchdowns also count towards this number. So, uh, you know, certainly some of the pick sixes and the defensive touchdowns that they have had this year, uh, contribute to that 12th overall ranking. Right now, they’re 28th in yards per game. They’re 21st in yards per play. Uh, round league average and EPA per play, EPA per pass, and EPA per rush. Um, you know, they’re below average in success rate this year. Um, and on third downs, they’re 20th, which is actually higher than I thought it was, uh, doing my research for this video. And then they are ninth uh in red zone. So they’re top 10 in red zone. They’re top 10 in giveaways. So the two things that this offense actually does pretty well is that they do protect the football and they do score touchdowns when they do get into the red zone. Uh but there is certainly room for improvement here. So let’s go over uh some of my prescribed changes that I would make down the stretch. The first thing that I would say is to pass less often and to use shotgun formations less often and use more of the run game and use more under center uh moving forward. Um, and you know, the reason why I say this is because the Steelers are in shotgun and they pass the ball more than an Arthur Smith offense usually does. All right, the Steelers aren’t shotgun over 66% of the time so far this season, which is a really high number for Arthur Smith, who usually does like to play under center. Um, and you know, uh, they pass the ball on 73.4% of their shotgun plays. So that’s actually not super high to according to league standards. But when you play in shotgun as much as the Steelers do, uh obviously that’s going to make you by definition more predictable because uh when when NFL teams are in shotgun, they’re passing the football u you know three out of every four times. So that certainly tips off the defense that a that a pass could be coming. Um and it certainly does tip that off uh in terms of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And you know, the Steelers pass the ball at a really high rate for an Arthur Smith offense. They currently ranked 12th in the league in pass rate at 58.7% of the time. Uh just to give you guys uh a little bit of context, the Steelers were 29th in pass rate last year uh despite the fact that their run game was terrible. U you know, their run game was not getting much going and they were still prioritizing running the football. That has not been the case this year in Pittsburgh. And in my opinion, this offense was built and it should be a run ccentric offense and it’s too reliant on Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers passing attack when it should when it should really run through Jaylen Warren and it should run through the Steelers run game. Um, just like they tried to do last year with Naji Harris and Jaylen Warren. It didn’t work out. But this year, uh, the blocking up front is a lot better. I would argue Jaylen Warren has been a more effective number one running back than Naji Harris was. and uh they’ve been more effective as a rushing offense this year, but they’re rushing it less, which I think is kind of a dumb idea, especially for a guy like Arthur Smith, whose breadandbut is the run game. So, what say you guys? Let me know down there in the comments section. Do the Steelers pass the ball too much? Give me a yes or a no down there in the comments section. Personally, I think they are passing it a bit too much. I would like to see them prioritize Jaylen Warren in the run game more moving forward, but let me know your thoughts down there in the comments section. For today’s pin question, just a second here. I’m going to tell you about our sponsor today at Ethos. And well, I let you know about our sponsor today. Simply give me a yes or a no down there in the comments section. With that, I have word from our sponsor today at Ethos. And guys, the summer before I started here at Chat Sports, unfortunately, my family lost my late grandfather. And as you tend to do when you lose someone close to you, you begin to think about your own mortality and what would happen to the people dependent on you if something were to happen. With today’s sponsor, Ethos, your family can be protected. Cassie and I are getting married soon, and shortly after that, I imagine we’ll buy a house and maybe start having some kids. 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Application times may vary, rates may vary, and a big thank you to ethos for sponsoring today’s edition of Steelers Talk. Another change that I would make to the Steelers offense is I would give more work to Jaylen Warren. And we kind of talked about that with our first point, but I would also give Warren more uh touches in the receiving game as well. You guys can see that Jaylen Warren does lead the team in touches this year by a pretty significant margin. Uh but you know, the number one running back in in your offense should have the most touches. I mean, the number two running back for the Steelers has by far the second most touches this year, right? And you know, you look at the snap share at running back this year. I like Kenneth Gainwell and you know, I like that the Steelers are rotating in Caleb Johnson. Uh but 52.7% of the running back snap share this year is just not enough in my opinion. By the way, this is in games that all three of these players were available. It’s not counting week four when Jaylen Warren uh was out of the lineup. Uh so, you know, Warren is by far getting the most snaps, but like I don’t think it’s enough. Jaylen Warren is your best offensive player. I think he should be getting at least 60% of the running back snap share. Um and I think he certainly should be getting more time on third downs than he currently is. I know this Steelers team really trusts Kenneth Gainwell as a third down back. Uh, but right now they’re almost treating it closer to the setup that Naji Harris and Jaylen Warren had in the previous seasons with Kenneth Gainwell in there. And you know, I I disagree with that philosophy because I think you have a true workhorse back in Jaylen Warren, but you’re kind of treating this running back room like a committee. And personally, I would give Warren more time on third down. Of course, you you you should use him on early downs as well as your number one guy there, but you know, you should also give him opportunities uh to c to to to catch passes on third down because on third downs, guys, that is where running backs get the most receiving targets because a lot of times defenses are sagging back and because of that, the checkown option, you know, gets more opportunities. And we’ve seen Kenneth Gainwell get more receiving targets this year by quite a large margin compared to Jaylen Warren because Kenneth Gainwell is almost always the guy that’s out there in third down situations for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense. Yet you look at the uh yards per target here uh of the Pittsburgh Steelers of these two backs and it’s completely different here where Jaylen Warren is absolutely killing Kenneth Gainwell in terms of the efficiency that those guys are having. Uh Kenneth Gainwell currently is only averaging about, you know, a little bit over four yards uh per target and Jaylen Warren has 7.8 yards per target. So it’s like which of these two guys do you want to give the more targets to on third downs? For me, it’s it’s not even close. It’s Jaylen Warren. And even though I think Kenneth Gainwell can get some third down snaps as the game goes on, I still think Jaylen Warren should be the primary guy for the Steelers offense on third downs where most of the receiving production at this position is dished out. Now, you might be saying, “But Jack, if he’s if he’s going to be playing more on third downs, then who’s going to take the early down kind of production, you know, when Jaylen’s not out on the field?” And for me, it would be Caleb Johnson. All right, Caleb is expected to be in that early down role at some point down the role he uh down the road here. And I’ve actually liked what I’ve seen from KJ on film over the last especially three games. He’s got good vision. He is he’s using his his his massive frame to move the pile forward. I think he can take on that responsibility. So, if you know you get Jaylen Warren up to about 60% snap share, uh you use him more on third downs and you get Caleb Johnson more work on these early down situations, I think that’s going to uh best maximize the talents of this uh really good running back room here in Pittsburgh uh and make the most out of this position that needs to be prioritized in this year’s offense. Then we get to the tight end position here where I think this team should very much cut John Smith’s snaps um not only in half but almost entirely. I don’t think John Smith provides a whole lot to the Steelers offense. He doesn’t run good routes. He doesn’t catch the football like he doesn’t have a great contested catch ability. Um he’s not that great after the catch either, which is what he was brought in to do. Um he’s not a good blocker at all, but yet, you know, he still leads the tight end room this year in snaps. All right, Darnell Washington is certainly catching up to him. And I think after this next week’s game, Darnell will pass Jonnu Smith. But the thing is, man, Jonno just doesn’t do really anything for this offense. It’s all right. You want him to block. Can’t do that. He had a face mask penalty last week with poor technique. Want him to run routes on third downs. He gets absolutely swallowed up by man coverage every time. All right. You want him to, you know, play smart against zone. He doesn’t really have that either. Pat Farmouth is so much better against zone. And by the way, has much better hands than John Smith has. And oh, you bring him in to be a Yak threat. Too bad. He’s all of a sudden decided to be a terrible Yak threat and not get really anything uh out of his screen looks this year. So there’s just not a whole lot of reason in my opinion to play Jonnu Smith at this point. I understand you gave him a contract and I understand he’s Arthur Smith’s guy, but like just objectively speaking, he’s not a good football player and we’ve got other good football players in this room and Darnell Washington and Pat Fmouth and I really think that they should lean in on those players more. All right, like Darnell Washington is such an X factor for this offense and the Steelers are are finally starting to figure that out. He had the most snaps out of any tight end on this team last week against the Bengals. such a good blocker on early downs and then as a checkdown option. He proved last week with multiple third and long uh you know conversions uh that he is a huge threat as a checkdown option because there’s no linebacker or defensive back on the planet that wants to tackle him. And then Pat Fmouth as Mike Tomlin describes him he’s a zone killer man and uh Aaron Rogers has said himself he wants to get Muth on the field more often. So, I think you get Jonnu Smith’s ass off the field and you play Darnell Washington and Pat Fmouth more when you go to your multi-tight end sets. Now, we move on to the wide receiver position. And I think that this offense should prioritize Roman Wilson and Calvin Austin more than it does. All right. I really do think that this offense, you know, leans too heavily on running back and tight end production and they don’t focus enough on their wide receivers. And right now, defenses can really key in on DK Metaf because they know Aaron Rogers isn’t throwing the ball to Calvin Austin and Roman Wilson all that much. I mean, Calvin has like 22 catches this year and I think Roman has like 12. So, it’s just not a whole lot of really opportunities given to your number two and number three wide receivers. And because of that, defenses, especially on third down, are just saying, “We’re going to put two guys on DK Metaf and force somebody else to beat us.” And most of the time, uh, the Steelers don’t have anybody, uh, you know, within the progression that realistically has a chance to make that happen. And this offense, in my opinion, doesn’t use, uh, this room’s biggest asset enough. And that asset is its speed. All right. What do DK Metaf, Roman Wilson, Calvin Austin the third all have in common? They’re all 43 speed guys. All right. DK obviously a different animal because he’s huge, but like Calvin Austin the third and Roman Wilson are speeders that can also run pretty good routes. By the way, I think their route running is super underrated. It’s just that, you know, the ball is either out before their route is fully developed or they’re, you know, running them on stop routes or out routes most of the time. Uh, routes that don’t really accentuate their speed and don’t give them opportunities to win deep or run after the catch. So, I think the best two ways to take advantage of wide receivers speed is to one uh really prioritize the deep passing game, especially off of play action. Get these guys working on post routes and get these guys going on deep crossers. You let them use their speed and run away from people. And then number two, get them the ball out in space. All right? I don’t care if it’s a short route like a drag to get it out in space. I don’t care if it’s a screen with blockers in front of them. I don’t care if it’s a dig route to the intermediate level of the field. I don’t care if it’s a deep crosser. All right? You got to get these guys going on in breaking routes, especially over the middle of the field, so that they can get the ball with room to run because these guys can absolutely fly. Um, and I would say Calvin and DK a little bit better in the run after catch department than Roman is. Uh, but you know, if you got three guys that run 4-3, you should take advantage of that speed as much as possible. And I think it’s just a fact that this offense relies too much on running backs and tight ends uh for the yards after the catch production that they get. And listen, man, they’ve got some good players. Jaylen Warren is a great run after guy. Darnell Washington, great run after guy. All right, but you got these guys and you got these guys that run really fast and, you know, they run a lot of stop routes and they run a lot of out routes where they catch the ball and then go out of bounds immediately. That’s not using, you know, the strengths of this wide receiver room in my opinion. So, I think that that would be a big change that I make. And I I once again want to re-emphasize that point by saying you got to run more inbreaking concepts. I mean, and this goes all the way to guys like DK Metaf as well. It’s not just Roman Wilson and Calvin Austin the third. And we’ve talked about uh, you know, DK Metaf is somebody that you get the ball to him out in space. Watch what that guy can do. But I would also say the same thing about Roman Wilson and Calvin Austin III who’s also got great speed and we’ve seen some good route running stuff on film from both of these guys. It’s just the ball is out so quickly where these guys really don’t have a chance to get open uh to the intermediate and deep levels of the field. Um and you know when they do run routes very rarely is it an an inbreaker uh over the middle. So I know it’s crazy. I’m asking for the Steelers offense to throw the ball over the middle more often and Mike Tomlin just never does that. But I really think that it would make this offense better. So I’m going to put it on my list today. And then the final change that I would make is make sure Aaron Rogers can get back to 100% healthy. All right. just plain and simply, ever since he jammed his finger uh pregame versus the Indianapolis Colts, he just hasn’t been the same. All right, he went from being like above league average in most key metrics at the quarterback position to, you know, bottom five in every single metric. And that that doesn’t really uh happen by accident in my opinion. All right, like the accuracy has clearly been off these last few weeks, especially down the field. Um, you know, I I think that it’s affecting him mentally, too, because he’s holding the ball for longer now in the pocket than he was in the early weeks of the season. So, I think Rogers, you know, especially now with this broken wrist. I know it’s his non-throwing hand, but he’s dealing with two injuries right now where where it’s that finger injury, uh, that has clearly affected his play already. And now you add a broken left wrist where he has to wear a brace. Like, I just don’t know, uh, if he’s going to be able to play at a high level again unless he gets back to 100% healthy. And you guys can see how it affects the Steelers offense. All right, those first eight weeks of the season, this was a top, you know, that 12 offense in the league. Can we call it that? A top 12 offense. I mean, you look at the EPA and success rate numbers for the Steelers. We got general EPA per play, success rate, drop back EPA, and then rushing EPA. I mean, the Steelers offense was was rolling those first eight weeks. And then over these last three, it’s just not the same story. They haven’t been abysmal necessarily, but they haven’t been great either. And you guys can see even where they rank these last three weeks. It’s been a big step down in every single metric that you look at. And that can be tied to Aaron Rogers not playing his best football over these last three weeks. So listen man, if Rogers isn’t right, give him a couple weeks. Go with Mason Rudolph. We’ve seen Rudolph be more than capable of winning regular season games for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And listen man, if I have to trade two weeks of Mason Rudolph, um which by the way I’m perfectly fine with. He’s a he’s a perfectly serviceable starting quarterback in this league in my opinion so that I can get a fully healthy Aaron Rodgers for the rest of the season and in the playoffs. I’m taking that deal every single time. So that’s where I’m at right now, guys. But let me know what you guys think down there in the comments section. What is the percent chance that Aaron Rogers plays on Sunday? Scale it from zero, meaning no chance he plays, to 100%, meaning he’s definitely playing. uh based on the video that we’ve seen of him at practice this week and you know his his desire to play, I’d probably put it at 95 plus percent chance. But uh let me know you guys think down there in the comments section. That’ll be it for today’s edition of Steelers Talk by Chat Sports. If you guys are a real one and made it to the end of today’s show, type those real ones in all caps down there in the comments uh so we can give you some love down there uh in the comments section. That’ll be it for today’s edition of Steelers Talk, guys. really do appreciate you guys stopping by, talking some Steelers football with me today. Going to have more content on the channel here coming up uh later in the weekend to talk about uh you know, obviously this game that we have coming up against the Chicago Bears. So, if you don’t want to miss any of that, click that subscribe button if you haven’t already. Till next time, guys. Here we go. Steelers. [Music]

Steelers Talk by Chat Sports on Friday, November 21st centers around the Steelers offense that has been better this year than in previous seasons, but still has room for improvement as we head down the home stretch of the 2025 NFL season. On today’s show, host Jack Sperry breaks down the 8 changes he would recommend to Steelers Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith to get the most out of the Steelers offense and get this unit to play their best football when it matters most at the end of the year.

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We want to hear from you, Steelers Nation! Answer today’s Steelers questions down in the comments section:
– What is the #1 issue the Steelers must address on offense right now?
– Do the Steelers pass the ball too much? Yes or No?
– Percent chance Rodgers plays on Sunday? Scale of 0-100

8 big changes Steelers Talk host Jack Sperry recommends to make the Steelers offense better:
– Less Shotgun & Pass
– More Work For Warren
– Play Warren On 3rd More
– Cut Jonnu’s Snaps
– Lean In On DW & Muth
– Prioritize Ro & Cal More
– Run More In-Breaking Concepts
– Get Rodgers Back To 100%

Want more Steelers YouTube videos? We got you!:
– Steelers News: Is The George Pickens Trade The WORST TRADE EVER? + Aaron Rodgers Returns To Practice – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMSrJKjSgwE
– Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Chicago Bears Week 12 JOINT PREVIEW Ft. Bears Now Host Harrison Graham – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9ejQqtGDgU
– Steelers Rumors: SIGN Brandin Cooks Or OBJ? + 2 BIG PROBLEMS With The Steelers Offense This Year – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgJBwIk49tU

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