Everyone saw last season how aggressive Russell Wilson was with deep shots down the sideline, but one of the quarterbacks who has been even more aggressive with those throws is new Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
From 2019 to 2022 when Rodgers was operating Matt LaFleur's offense in Green Bay's offense, he attempted 409 deep throws, the second-most in the league. Tom Brady was No. 1 at 458. Wilson was third with 367.
That's telling because LaFleur's offensive scheme has a lot of the tendencies that line up with that of Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
Smith served as tight ends coach in Tennessee under LaFleur before he was hired as Green Bay's head coach. And while the offenses aren't identical, there are plenty of concepts that both utilize and stress.
One is play-action.
In Smith's first season as offensive coordinator in 2024, the Steelers utilized play-action on 27.6 percent of their drop backs. That was 11th-most in the NFL.
In the four previous seasons, the highest the Steelers ranked in play-action usage was 27th.
In 2022, Rodgers final season in LaFleur's offense – and not one of his better overall seasons – he had a passer rating of 104.8 when utilizing play-action, throwing 11 touchdown passes and three interceptions. His passer rating on non-play-action passes was 86.5.
As he did last season, Smith will develop his offense around the skillset of his quarterback.
Much was made late in the season about the Steelers quarterbacks not having the ability to audible at the line of scrimmage.
That's not necessarily a true statement. While they couldn't necessarily change the play completely at the line of scrimmage, they also didn't have just one play to run when they stepped to the line. There are checks in every play.
And Rodgers is one of the best in the history of the game in reading defenses.
"I'm going to learn the offense, and Arthur and I are going to talk a bunch this summer. If there's things that I like that I'd like to see in the offense, Arthur I'm sure is going to put it in," Rodgers said. "He knows how to call a game. I know how to get us in the right spot based on what's called. There's two or three plays called in the huddle sometimes. My job is to get us in the right play."
• Only three teams ran the ball more often than the Steelers in 2024.
But the difference was that the Eagles (4.9 yards per carry), Ravens (5.8) and Lions (4.7) all ran the ball more effectively than the Steelers, who averaged 4.1 yards per attempt.
What's the difference? Look at the Lions as an example.
They ran the ball 534 times and gained 2,488 yards.
The Steelers ran it 533 times and gained 2,166.
So, while that .6 yards per carry more the Lions averaged over the Steelers doesn't look like much, over the course of a season, it added up to 300 more rushing yards on one more carry.
That is significant.
That's why the Steelers need more explosiveness in their running game. And that comes not just from having more explosive running backs, but from wide receivers doing their job blocking downfield, as well.
If the Steelers can get their rushing average up to, say, 4.3 yards per carry – which isn't a big ask – their rushing total from last season would have been 2,292 yards, over 100 more rushing yards than they had in 2024.
• Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill showed up at a track meet last week in California and was timed at 10.15 seconds in a 100-meter dash.
Of course, everyone knows Hill is extremely fast. That's his calling card.
It was reminiscent of what DK Metcalf did in 2021.
The Steelers' wide receiver, then with the Seahawks, competed in a 100-meter race that year and ran a 10.37.
There is one big difference, however. Hill is listed at 5-foot-10, 191 pounds. Metcalf is listed at 6-foot-4, 229 pounds.
That Metcalf is even in the same range as Hill at nearly 40 pounds heavier is extraordinary.
• One of the toughest parts of playing cornerback in the NFL is figuring out what is going to be permitted and what is not in a particular game.
So, while Joey Porter Jr. was, indeed, penalized 17 times in 2024, which is way too many. But 12 of those penalties came in three games, including six in a game against the Bengals.
That would certainly be considered a bad day at the office.
Porter is obviously working on correcting those issues.
"There are some things I can clean up with my technique," Porter said. "But the good thing is that it wasn't like there were guys running behind me."
Porter is right. And the other thing he'll learn as he gets more experience in the league is which officials call more penalties in the secondary and which ones do not.
When you have 12 penalties in three games and only five in the other 15, it shows you're not an overly grabby player. It shows you might have had an issue in a couple of games – or had an officiating crew that happened to be looking closely at it in that particular game.
• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast Pittonline@iheartmedia.com
• Pro Football Focus has put together its top 32 players at each position in the league, and the Steelers defense ranked very highly in the ratings.
Overall, the Steelers had 10 defenders make the list, including Cameron Heyward and Keeanu Benton at defensive tackle, TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig as edge rushers, Patrick Queen at inside linebacker, Joey Porter Jr. and Darius Slay at cornerback, and both Minkah Fitzpatrick and DeShon Elliott at safety.
Considering there is an expectation that players such as Payton Wilson and first-round draft pick Derrick Harmon could crack this list in the near future, there's no reason the Steelers shouldn't have one of the top defenses in the NFL in 2025.
