The Pittsburgh Steelers have a unique offense, to say the least. It’s led by the oldest player in the NFL, who’s now on an offense that has a lot of youth around him. While the Steelers don’t have a ton of weapons offensively, they do have a tight end room with a lot of diversity in terms of skill sets. That’s something The Athletic’s Robert Mays expects Arthur Smith to exploit.
“If I had to make an argument for why them living with multiple tight ends on the field, even three of them at a time, is actually okay for this team, it’s that the tight ends do have a diversified enough skill set combined where you’re getting something a little bit different from all of them,” Mays said Monday on The Athletic Football Show.
Having multiple tight ends on the field will be a regular occurrence for the Steelers this year. For one, they don’t have a ton of depth at receiver. Behind DK Metcalf, the biggest names are Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson. The former missed all of the preseason with an injury, and the latter has yet to catch a pass in the regular season.
However, this offense is going to run through Aaron Rodgers and Smith. And one thing they both love using is their tight ends, a position Rodgers is very pleased with in Pittsburgh. In training camp they’ve gone as far as to experiment with 04 personnel, involving four tight ends and no running backs.
Mays thinks that’s just the start of things and that the Steelers’ offense could look extremely unique this season.
“It’s going to be weird,” Mays said. “But Arthur Smith has never shied away from building something weird for the sake of doing it. And so I do expect to see a version of the Steelers’ offense that looks unlike anything else in the NFL.”
Weird can be good, especially with how diverse this tight end room is. Pat Freiermuth acts as a traditional tight end, one who can block but also stretch the seam and find soft spots against zone coverage. Darnell Washington is essentially an offensive tackle who can run routes and catch passes. And in Jonnu Smith and Connor Heyward the Steelers have the most versatility. Especially with Smith, who can play everywhere on the offense and had nearly 900 receiving yards and eight touchdowns last season.
There are a lot of new faces on this offense. And it may take some time for all to get comfortable. However, the tight end room is arguably the most secure of all the skill positions in Pittsburgh. It’s something the Steelers should take advantage of, which Mays expects them to.