It feels like a lifetime ago when the Killer B\u2019s \u2013 Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le\u2019Veon Bell \u2013 were leading one of the most dynamic offenses in the NFL. Back then, the Steelers averaged more than 25 points per game with the capability of scoring 50 on any given Sunday. Now, Pittsburgh\u2019s offense is riddled with unproven youngsters, potentially washed-up veterans and a few possible Pro Bowlers.<\/p>\n
The wide receiver room appeared formidable until the Steelers traded George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys. Now, they\u2019ll enter 2025 without their leading passer (Russell Wilson), leading rusher (Najee Harris) and leading receiver (Pickens) from last season.<\/p>\n
Considering all these factors, Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report ranked the Steelers as the second-worst offense in the NFL following the 2025 NFL Draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAs of now, the Pittsburgh Steelers don\u2019t have a starting quarterback,\u201d wrote Sobleski. \u201cEven if Aaron Rodgers eventually commits to play for the organization, an argument can be made that the Steelers will still be searching for a starting quarterback\u2026Beyond the vacant quarterback spot, the Steelers offense continued to take two steps forward and one-and-half steps back this offseason. Pittsburgh made a huge splash by signing DK Metcalf only to subsequently move last year\u2019s leading receiver George Picks to the Dallas Cowboys. Najee Harris left in free agency\u2026the Steelers responded by drafting Iowa\u2019s Kaleb Johnson in the second round. Last year\u2019s first round draft pick, Troy Fautanu, is expected back in the lineup after an injury ruined his rookie season. With Dan Moore Jr. leaving in free agency, Broderick Jones will transition from right to left tackle\u2026The Steelers weren\u2019t good on offense last year. Currently, they\u2019re not significantly better in any area.\u201d<\/p>\n While the personnel might not look significantly better on paper \u2013 for some position groups it\u2019s certainly worse \u2013 there\u2019s reason to be optimistic that several elements of the offense are trending upward. The offensive line showed growth and resolve despite a bout of injuries in 2024. Center Zach Frazier and Guard Mason McCormick looked like they could become the next Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro after stellar rookie seasons<\/a>. If Troy Fautanu can live up to his pre-draft expectations<\/a> following knee surgery, then the offensive line should make significant strides in 2025. Unfortunately, left tackle is the biggest question mark for Pittsburgh\u2019s 0-line. Broderick Jones play will determine just how high of a ceiling<\/a> this young line can reach.<\/p>\n The conversation almost always comes back to the quarterback room, as it should in the modern NFL. But if quarterback is the most important piece on offense, I\u2019d argue offensive coordinator is number two. Arthur Smith is entering his second season as the Steelers offensive coordinator, so he should be more comfortable calling plays and designing an offense that meshes well with his personnel.<\/p>\n Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith want to pound the run. It\u2019s why they\u2019ve invested so much into offensive lineman, and it\u2019s why the spent a high pick on Kaleb Johnson who can tout a heavy workload between the tackles. If the Steelers can run the ball like they believe they can, then there\u2019s no way that they finish as a bottom-five offense in the league.<\/p>\n Quarterback and wide receiver generate all the jersey sales, and the Steelers have just one player in those position groups that\u2019s top 25 at his position (DK Metcalf). We can still dream of an Aaron Rodgers renaissance season where Metcalf finishes with 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns, Calvin Austin III fully breaks out and Roman Wilson actually laces up his cleats and provides value in the slot. But it\u2019s more likely that Steelers fans will be groaning on the couch as Chris Boswell lines up for his fifth field goal attempt of the day in the fourth quarter trailing 13-12.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It feels like a lifetime ago when the Killer B\u2019s \u2013 Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le\u2019Veon Bell…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1586,4829,8226,19736,2870,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-61115","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-aaron-rodgers","9":"tag-arthur-smith","10":"tag-bleacher-report","11":"tag-brent-sobelski","12":"tag-dk-metcalf","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114531666731103269","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61115","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=61115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}