If Steelers OC Arthur Smith can\u2019t run his offense this season, it will be hard to point the finger elsewhere. Ostensibly, the Steelers have provided him everything he wants, within reason, that they could. A hand-picked running back, a big-bodied wide receiver, a rebuilt offensive line, and an arsenal of tight ends: that\u2019s an Arthur Smith offense.<\/p>\n
The big variable is, of course, the quarterback position. But Arthur Smith made things work with Ryan Tannehill, so he should manage a 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers. It is now up to him to facilitate the run game with Jaylen Warren and rookie Kaleb Johnson. By all accounts, Johnson is virtually the perfect back for him<\/a>, minus the elite speed of a Derrick Henry.<\/p>\n While the Steelers had some good stretches under Smith last season, the offense disappointed overall. At one point, Smith compared the sluggish run game to a \u201cbeat-up old pickup truck<\/a>\u201d needing jumper cables. But with better health and internal growth, the offensive line should be at another level this season.<\/p>\n And Arthur Smith should have a backfield that better complements his offense. Last year, Warren dealt with injuries, which limited his effectiveness. Now he is preparing for a full-time role<\/a>, complemented by Johnson. And let\u2019s not forget Kenneth Gainwell, whose skill set Smith also praised<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prior to joining the Steelers last season, Arthur Smith served a three-year stint as the Falcons\u2019 head coach. After three straight losing seasons, they let him go, and he agreed to return to his roots as an offensive coordinator.<\/p>\n Smith worked his way up the Tennessee Titans organization, rising to offensive coordinator in 2019. He only held that job for two seasons\u2014to great effect\u2014before earning the Falcons gig. In his first season with the Steelers, Smith\u2019s offense ranked 16th in points and 23rd and yards<\/a>. Despite the fourth-most rushing attempts, they ranked just outside the top 10 in yards, 19th in touchdowns.<\/p>\n But even Smith admitted the Steelers weren\u2019t equipped last year to fully run his offense<\/a>. Now they are, which means it\u2019s time to put up the results. Unless Aaron Rodgers just completely falls on his face or they have a rash of injuries, this offense is his.<\/p>\n Granted, they are also relying on a lot of young pieces and their natural maturation. The offensive line consists of three second-year players, one of whom has barely any experience. Their left tackle is a two-year starter at right tackle, whom they tried to bench last year. But Arthur Smith can\u2019t help but smile when he thinks about Darnell Washington<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Steelers OC Arthur Smith can\u2019t run his offense this season, it will be hard to point the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[4829,7,6,520,57,2360,426,691],"class_list":{"0":"post-201746","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-arthur-smith","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","13":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","14":"tag-steelers","15":"tag-trending"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114841104279323307","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}