4 Steelers stars who will be wasted in Arthur Smith's offense
Fans saw the Pittsburgh Steelers offense notably improve once former offensive coordinator Matt Canada was relieved of his duties, which was to be expected. That, however, was also a source of optimism coming into 2024 with the hope that Mike Tomlin would add a substantial upgrade at OC in the offseason. Instead, he might've just exacerbated the issues on that side of the ball.
On Tuesday, the Steelers hired former Atlanta Falcons head coach and Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith to fill the coaching vacancy at OC.
Smith worked well with Mike Vrabel helming the Titans offense, but his stylings were nothing short of baffling in Atlanta. Namely, fans and anyone looking in from the outside could never comprehend why Smith refused to give the keys on offense to his best players. Desmond Ridder suffered because of it, Bijan Robinson was in a timeshare with Tyler Allgeier, and Kyle Pitts was splitting time with Jonnu Smith.
Coming off of that, it's hard for any Steelers fan to feel good going into this new situation. But these four offensive stars in Pittsburgh should feel even worse as Smith's recent track record suggests they'll be mismanaged and misused for as long as he's the Steelers OC.
4. Kenny Pickett (or whoever the Steelers QB is)
The Steelers quarterback future is, to say the least, in flux. Kenny Pickett is still on a rookie contract as a first-round pick, but the prevailing sentiment -- at least among the fan base -- is that Pittsburgh should already be setting the wheels in motion to find another option under center. To paraphrase their feelings, Pickett ain't it.
But no matter if it's Pickett, Mason Rudolph, a rookie, a veteran stopgap, or any other quarterback option you could consider, it's hard to look forward with Arthur Smith as the offensive coordinator and feel confident about what's to come from the position.
If there was anyone looking to cape for Smith and his ability as an OC, they would surely point to the resurgence of Ryan Tannehill with the Titans. Sure, the new Steelers assistant deserves some credit for that -- but there's also a case to be made that health, Derrick Henry, an elite offensive line, and simply not being entirely misused did just as much to reinvigorate Tannehill than Smith did.
More importantly, the one thing that we haven't seen from Smith with his quarterbacks, particularly with the Falcons, is his ability to elevate and develop. No matter who is under center for the Steelers, that's going to be crucial when you look at the market at hand (aside from the outside shot of signing Kirk Cousins). Because of that, expect the 2024 QB to feel the ill effects of Smith.