With Arthur Smith now entrenched as the new offensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers there is still much to be learned about what his offense will look like. I could easily dive into the quarterback situation but that currently speaks for itself. Instead, I’m curious about Smith’s usage of tight ends which has been talked about as one of his stronger assets as a coordinator and play-caller. Does it live it up to the hype?
What must first be said before jumping in here is that we have to remember this offense in Tennessee was centered on Derrick Henry plain and simple. Yes, A.J. Brown and Corey Davis were there but they combined for less than 100 receptions in 2019 indicating just how ‘run-first’ oriented the team was. Therefore this is going to greatly affect tight end numbers.
Tennessee OC 2019/2020
In his first season as the Titans’ OC, Smith had Jonnu Smith and MyCole Pruitt as his primary tight ends. Delanie Walker, who had three Pro Bowl seasons prior to Smith’s arrival as a tight end, was largely used as a hybrid TE/WR as his career wound down.
In that first season, the Titans went 9-7 finishing second in the AFC South. They would advance to the AFC Championship Game where they lost to Kansas City. Smith, Pruitt and Walker would combine for 62 receptions with all but six coming from Smith and Walker. They would also combine for six touchdowns with three for Smith, two for Walker and one for Pruitt.
Being that Smith was the primary tight end is where I want to focus. His 35 receptions weren’t impressive compared to other starting tight ends around the league but two things did stand out. He averaged over 12 yards per reception and 16 of his catches went for first downs.
In an offense built so heavily around the running game and play-action, being able to convert throws into first downs takes on added significance. In Pruitt’s case he recorded just six receptions but they went for 15 yards a pop.
During the 2020 season, Delanie Walker had moved on leaving Jonnu Smith and MyCole Pruitt as the only two tight ends. The Titans followed up their strong finish to 2019 by winning the South but they were knocked off by Baltimore in their first playoff game. With just two TEs, one would assume that their numbers would have gone up. As it turns out that was barely the case.
Smith caught 41 passes while Pruitt maintained his six catches from the year before. While Smith didn’t get to the same yards per catch average he was over 10 YPC and added to his touchdown numbers by grabbing eight. But… in a season that saw Henry go over 2,000 yards, both Brown and Davis had monster years as well. They caught 106 and 92 balls respectively. Basic math will tell you that with Henry, Brown and Davis getting so many balls, there are that many fewer for the tight ends.
Atlanta 2021-2023
When Arthur Smith arrived in Atlanta, his first draft selection was tight end Kyle Pitts who made the Pro Bowl with 68 receptions for 1,000 yards but just one touchdown. His teammate Hayden Hurst caught 26 balls for three scores. It appeared that Smith had found a formula that got his tight ends involved a bit more
But in the next two seasons combined, Pitts recorded just 28 and 53 receptions respectively with only five total touchdowns. On the positive side, he picked up 98 first downs on his career 149 receptions which means his catches were doing exactly what you want from a tight end, he was moving the sticks.
To not discuss the quarterback situation in Atlanta however would a great disservice to Pitts. This is not to suggest there weren’t some things he could have done better, but when you’ve got a constant revolving door of average quarterbacks that’s going to make a difference.
Pittsburgh Tight Ends Last Year
Pat Freiermuth led the Steelers in tight end receptions in 2023 with 32 receptions and an average per catch of less than ten. He played in just 12 games due to injury. Rookie Darnell Washington played in all 17 games but caught just seven passes all season. While he wasn’t expected to be a pass catching monster, that number was a major disappointment. Connor Heyward, who is more of a FB/TE hybrid than he is a straight tight end caught 23 passes in 17 games.
In all, the Steelers’ tight ends accounted for just 29 first downs with Freiermuth accounting for 17 himself. This group could only muster two receiving touchdowns all season long and consider this; nine of his 32 receptions and 120 of his 303 yards total came in ONE game. That was a 16-10 win in Cincinnati.
What Does It All Mean?
Like we did with Atlanta, we must consider the quarterback play in Pittsburgh in 2023 when evaluating the tight ends. It wasn’t good and the tight ends did in fact suffer as a result. But none of the tight ends on the Steelers’ roster put fear into any defense in the NFL. That may be crude, but it’s true.
Arthur Smith – as a former tight ends coach – knows this position lacks dynamic play-making and it’s up to him to get more out of them. Getting a more efficient and effective running game started earlier in the season is a major factor in this happening. But we can’t expect miracles from Smith either.
I believe Freiermuth can be a guy who catches 60 balls in a season but that likely isn’t going to happen. With Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris getting the bulk of the touches, it will be hard to spread it around to ‘Muth and his crew. However, one area of improvement I do expect to see from Smith is getting the tight ends in better positions to convert first downs. Instead of moving them east and west so much as Matt Canada did, getting them going north will be a major step.
Temper your expectations Steelers Nation, but don’t be surprised to see some marked improvement either.
