Breaking: As the Steelers agree to trade for a spectacular quarterback, here is how their offense will look under new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.

How the Steelers’ offense will be different with Arthur Smith

I really haven’t been able to give my thoughts on the Steelers hiring Arthur Smith as their new offensive coordinator, as it took place in the middle of Senior Bowl week and the news broke during practice.

My initial thoughts are that Smith is better than anything they had. He’s had success before as an OC, but his struggles in Atlanta can’t be ignored. I’ll hold off on any judgement either way until I see what it looks like on the field.

Speaking of what happens on the field, the offense will look different for sure, as it pertains to personnel and the way in which the Steelers will operate from a schematic standpoint.

For starters, expect the Steelers to be more creative with their usage of their skill position players. Specifically, running backs on early downs. The Falcons came out in 21 personnel (two running backs, one tight end) on 19 percent of first downs in 2023- the Steelers didn’t do it once. Atlanta also led the NFL in 22 personnel on first downs, meaning we will see packages where Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, Pat Freiermuth, and Darnell Washington (or maybe Le’Veon Bell, he said with a sly smile and smug wink) are all on the field at the same time to begin drives and new down sequences fairly often.

Sticking with the tight ends, expect them to be a much bigger focal point in 2024. The Falcons led the NFL in target distribution for tight ends at 34 percent. For comparison, the Steelers were 22nd at 19 percent. Freiermuth and Washington, as well as Connor Heyward at times, will get more looks. Hopefully that also means we see more usage of Washington as a big slot option or just more looks down the seam.

In terms of alignment, the Steelers had an issue of lining up in shotgun too much, especially on early downs. That, combined with their offensive tendencies, made it very easy for opposing defenses to predict what was going to happen. According to GINI, which tells how concentrated a team’s style is, the Steelers finished fifth in formation GINI- the Falcons finished 29th. This means Pittsburgh had very few formations they would use, while Atlanta had a large variety of different looks.