There’s only so much to go around in the Steelers offense
What a difference a year makes. In 2019, the Steelers were 0-2 and found out they would go forward without Ben Roethlisberger for the remainder of the season.
Two weeks into the 2020 NFL regular season, the Steelers are 2-0 and Ben Roethlisberger appears to have returned back and possibly better than ever.
Yet, fans are fussing about non-stories, especially with the offense. I’m used to the usual bickering about “trade this player,” which hardly ever makes sense, in-season no less. However, the criticism is coming from different areas:
- Sit James Conner for Benny Snell
- Why doesn’t Derek Watt play more?
- Who’s snaps will Chase Claypool steal?
- Where is Anthony McFarland?
- Do we still need David DeCastro?
There’s so much more than this too, but the fact of the matter is this: just enjoy the ride!
The Conner/Snell debate is one of the more warranted ones, yet, we saw what a healthy James Conner could do Sunday against the Broncos.
Benny Snell?
He had a great game against the Giants, but had ball security issues against Denver.
This shouldn’t be an either/or scenario for the Steelers, rather, it’s nice to have two backs which compliment one another, even if both don’t an even number of carries coming out of the backfield. My thought is that Mike Tomlin prefers to have a “bell cow” who gets the majority of the work. Conner likely wasn’t seriously injured in Week 1, even though fans cried foul. Instead, Tomlin took him off of the field against an inferior team, preventing any further risk of injury and saving him for another day (such as Sunday against Denver).
That was a smart move after seeing what happened to the San Francisco 49ers, who suffered at least four serious injured players one week later at MetLife Stadium, which is now being criticized for its turf. Heck, that turf may be the reason Zach Banner is out for the season too.
That changes the perspective on Conner a lot, doesn’t it?
As for McFarland, the fifth-round rookie, didn’t even receive a helmet in Week 1. If Snell is only getting carries when Conner is hurt, and Conner (as well as DeAngelo Williams) only received ample playing time when Le’Veon Bell went down, what does that say for McFarland, who is basically the fourth running back off of the bench?
Who should a fullback take off of the field?
Fans are already clamoring for more of Chase Claypool, but they’re also backing Diontae Johnson and James Washington, while jumping on JuJu Smith-Schuster’s bandwagon again as well.
That’s four wide receivers, the maximum the Steelers usually deploy, along with a running back, equally five players – aside from five offensive linemen and of course, the quarterback, for a grand total of eleven on the field at once.
As much as I’d like to play with more than that, who goes to the sidelines?
In this scenario I’ve already sent tight ends Eric Ebron and Vance McDonald over there…
It doesn’t require a Joshua Dobbs degree in rocket science to see where I’m going with this. The Steelers simply have too many offensive weapons to go around in 2020.
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When previous fullback Roosevelt Nix needed replaced, the Steelers had to find someone who could play both that position and special teams. Tyler Matakevich, a special teams standout in his four years with the Steelers, also left during free agency.
Derek Watt was brought in to fill a special teams role. I know we’d all like to see him come in and help Pittsburgh jam the ball down the opponent’s throats, a la the old days, but how do you do that when you’re already down your starting right tackle (Banner), starting right guard (DeCastro) and his reserve (Wisniewski)?
I know that Chuks Okorafor and Kevin Dotson did fine on Sunday, but who is the “eligible tackle” to beef up the line in those situations? Can you name their backups?… Do you trust them in that situation?
Watt’s tackle of the Denver punter for a safety should be enough to quell these remarks, I would think – but just some common sense is needed that you likely don’t take another weapon (or two or three) off of the field just for the sake of giving someone playing time. You’re going to play the opponent and the situation at that point in the game.
That’s why Claypool entered and had his number called on a long pass play. The Steelers saw a potential mismatch against a rookie cornerback and exploited it.
In Claypool’s case, his trajectory of playing time is starting to match JuJu’s rookie season, so far. However, others in the past took much longer to crack major reps. It took JuJu going down for Diontae Johnson to start starting last season, for example. Martavis Bryant and many others went the same path – and in some cases had less competition to receive more snaps.
Again, how many four and five wide receiver sets would the Steelers realistically use to remove players such as Conner, Ebron and/or McDonald from the field?
Probably not many. Anyone can study the Steelers games over the years (or any NFL game for that matter) and come to that conclusion: that leaves me with the offensive line. The young men mentioned, Dotson and Okorafor, had good games.
That was one game. Let’s give it some time before we put anyone, especially a perennial All-Pro (DeCastro) out to pasture.
With no preseason games and an offseason that barely existed due to a pandemic, we should be appreciative of the Steelers efforts through two games – and have some patience as this is their preseason right now. As the team gels and gets more time together, there are bound to be better things to come.
As I started this column with, let’s just enjoy the ride while it lasts!
