How would Arthur Smith’s offence look on the Steelers?

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Pittsburgh The Pittsburgh Steelers are anticipated to appoint former Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith as their next offensive coordinator following a brief search overseen by head coach Mike Tomlin.

He was chosen by the Steelers from a group of three interviewees that included former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown and quarterback coach Jerrod Johnson of the Houston Texans.

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Smith fulfilled the requirements that Tomlin said at his news conference at the end of the season: he was an outside hiring, he had served as an offensive coordinator in the past, and his resume indicates that he can implement an offensive philosophy with the players the Steelers already have on their roster. His lacklustre tenure in Atlanta, which included three straight 7–10 seasons marred by criticism regarding the use of his finest players, infuriated some Steelers fans right away.

However, the Steelers have shown that they appreciate Smith’s playcalling experience beyond what he did in Atlanta and that they are dedicated to being a run-first team by benching Smith to advance the offence.

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“I believe we have a concept of how we want the offence to be designed for the Steelers,” owner and president Art Rooney II stated on Monday. “Lead with that, please. It is somewhat necessary to have a coordinator who feels confident in their ability to work with this roster and achieve success because you cannot make drastic changes to it over night.

“Someone who can work with this squad and accomplish what’s kind of already constructed here, in terms of the roster and some of the skill sets that we have, and who believes in that. That, I believe, is what we’re searching for.”

Smith’s background and training under Steelers alumni Mike Munchak, Ken Whisenhunt, and Mike Mularkey indicate he’s well-positioned to make use of a roster that features a potentially dominant running back tandem, especially if paired with an above-average offensive line and a competent quarterback, even though his time in Atlanta doesn’t exactly suggest it.

Smith’s offenses in Atlanta and Tennessee consistently had some of the league’s best rushing attacks. Anchored by one of the NFL’s premier running backs in Derrick Henry, the Titans averaged 153.5 rushing yards per game and 5.1 rushing yards per carry in Smith’s first two seasons, second in that two-year stretch to only the Baltimore Ravens. The Titans also averaged 2.02 rushing yards after contact and 133 rushes of 10-plus yards, both of which also ranked second in the league.

But Smith also found success on the ground without Henry as 2022 Falcons fifth-round pick Tyler Allgeier rushed for 1,035 yards in a breakout rookie season. That year, Smith’s Falcons ranked third in rushing yards and 10th in rushing touchdowns — a massive improvement from finishing 31st in rushing yards and 27th in rushing touchdowns in 2021, Smith’s first season in Atlanta. And in 2023, the Falcons ranked ninth in rushing yards per game and 15th in rushing touchdowns. The Steelers, meanwhile, ranked 13th in rushing yards and 11th in rushing touchdowns in 2023.

In his first two seasons in the NFL, Allgeier ranked second to only Henry in yards after contact, averaging 2.32 yards after contact per carry. That bodes well for both Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, who use yards after contact as a major part of their skill sets. Rooney even said he wants an offense seemingly led by its ground game.

“I think we have two high-performing running backs in Najee and Jaylen and they, along with an improving offensive line, can be the foundation of success going forward,” Rooney said Monday.

Smith, though, will have to find a more effective way to deploy a running back tandem than his system in 2023. In his final season with the Falcons, Smith was often criticized for his inconsistent usage of first-round running back Bijan Robinson. Though undeniably talented, Robinson fell short of a 1,000 rushing season and only had two 100-yard rushing games, both in the first month of the season. Though Robinson played 68% of offensive snaps, he had only 214 rush attempts and 86 targets. Allgeier, meanwhile, played 32% of offensive snaps and had 186 rush attempts and 23 targets.

Rooney noted that the two-back system benefited Harris, who finished the season with back-to-back 100-yard games for the first time in his career.

Regarding a multiple-running back system, Rooney remarked, “I feel better about it now than I did a year ago or even two years ago.” “Having a two-headed monster, as it were, at running back makes me feel pretty fantastic. Two very talented running backs with different styles who, in my opinion, can really lay the groundwork for future success when paired with the correct offensive line.”

Smith’s scheme is advantageous for the Steelers’ tight ends as well as the run game. In terms of plays with multiple tight ends on the field from 2021 to 2023, the Falcons ran the most (1,549), while the Steelers ran the fewest (844 plays), placing 22nd. Pat Freiermuth and 2023 draft pick Darnell Washington are both on the Steelers’ roster. Although Smith was erratic in his usage of 2021 first-round tight end Kyle Pitts during Pitts’ 1,000-yard rookie campaign, Smith’s approach should encourage increased involvement from all of the team’s tight ends.