High Praise For Arthur Smith, Offensive Line During OTAs
After Thursday’s practice, the Steelers’ players that showed up for OTAs have a few days off before entering the final stretch of practices, which will end on June 6th. After that, mandatory minicamp will begin on June 11th.
Obviously, as we sit here in May, all 32 teams have a clean slate, and the vibes in most locker rooms around the league are very high. However, I think this is especially true for this particular Steelers group because of the hiring of Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator.
To put it bluntly, most of the guys on our offense haven’t played in a tried and true PROFESSIONAL offensive scheme. Connor Heyward echoed those sentiments on Tuesday when he spoke to the media about everyone’s new roles on offense, adding that the physicality has been ramped up under Smith’s leadership.
Looking at Arthur Smith’s career, both as a coordinator and a head coach, it’s true that his offenses operate at a high level in the trenches with a lot of heavy personnel packages, which likely bodes well for the group we have now on offense, particularly with the additions to the offensive line and the added mobility at the quarterback position. During Smith’s tenure as an OC in Tennessee, their rushing attack was second only to Baltimore, and even during his roller-coaster ride of a time as the head coach of the Falcons, they went from one of the worst rushing attacks in the NFL to top 10. Also, if you need any further proof that the Steelers are going to utilize a lot of heavy personnel, look no further than the recent acquisition of tight ends MyCole Pruitt and Izaiah Gathings. That gives us six tight ends on our roster, which is just really unnecessary unless your plan is to use that position group a lot.
Last year, it took the Steelers’ running game about half of the season before it really took off. Jaylen Warren expressed confidence that under Smith’s guidance, this group will get going quicker than in years past, saying: “Probably, yeah. With our schemes and everything we’re building towards, I can see that happening right away!”
So, clearly, Arthur Smith has his fingers on the pulse of this offense and I have to assume he’s been in the ear of GM Omar Khan to bring in these additional bodies. I, along with (seemingly) every player on the offense, am excited to see what this is going to look like.
Sidebar: I think Najee Harris is going to have a career year, and we’re going to regret not picking up that 5th year option. Smh.
Arthur Smith isn’t the only one being showered with praise during OTAs. It sounds like these young offensive linemen have been impressive so far.
The other day, Dan Moore was asked how Troy Fautanu has looked so far at right tackle, and whether there were parallels to be drawn from when he was moved to RT. Moore shot that notion down quickly, saying: “I think Troy is doing a really good job with [this] transition. I definitely wouldn’t compare him to me, because he looks a lot better than I did at right tackle, for sure.”
It feels strange to call Dan Moore Jr. a vet, because he is only 25 years old, but for guys like Fautanu, Mason McCormick, and Zach Frazier, he is one of those “vets” that they will go to for guidance. With that being said, for him to show love, and humble himself in the process, for our first round pick was cool to hear.
Moore also spoke briefly about the evolution of Broderick Jones’ role in the locker room, and how he’s navigated still accepting help from the older guys, while also stepping up as a leader for the new guys on the offensive line. Obviously, as our first round pick in 2023, he will be expected to take some leaps this year, while also helping our new first round tackle get acclimated to the league. The relationship between Jones and Fautanu is definitely one I’ll be paying close attention to during the offseason. It’s worth reminding everyone that the Steelers run game really took off at the tail end of last year after Jones was inserted into the starting lineup. He and Fautanu have a real opportunity to hold down the fort at both ends of the offensive line for years to come.
Another young offensive lineman, Zach Frazier, spoke about his experience, so far, at OTAs learning under guys like Isaac Seumalo: "It's great to have guys like that, Isaac specifically; It's pretty cool to watch him and just see how good he is and try to pick up how he works, how he practices and ask him things because he's obviously played a lot of football, seen a lot of things and he's a great veteran."
During this portion of team development, when guys aren’t even wearing pads, and we’re only just now entering the month of June, I think the best thing these rookie offensive linemen can do is act like sponges and take in, not only the playbook, but the work habits of the guys that have been in the league for a bit. It may seem like such a small thing, but I love that quote by Frazier. It’s unclear who the starting center is going to be once the year starts. If I had to guess, Nate Herbig is the answer for now, but who knows what could happen as these offseason programs ramp up?
It’s hard to find things to get excited about (as it pertains to American football) this time of year, but this offensive line has the talent to be a really special group in 2024. I wish they would announce the damn training camp schedule already! eye roll
Here. We. Go.
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