2020 Offense

[MOSteelers56]

I’ve been really thinking about the potential for our offense next year and I think it might be really special. On paper we have a very versatile offense. Obviously it all starts with #7’s arm, but we might really surprise some people. 

We have a versatile offensive line. Maulers and pass blockers. I want to see Feiler start at LG and Chuks or Banner take RT. Chuks can provide some athleticism and Banner could provide power in the run game. 

For Pass Catchers we have toughness, route running, speed, and size. We’ve got JuJu and Johnson who are crafty route runners and underneath/intermediate weapons. Ebron and Claypool are size mismatches in the RZ. Washington provides great hands, toughness, and an occasional deep threat. 

For runners another packed versatile group. Connor provides toughness and slashing. He can punish a defense and tire them out. Snell is a guy who will either resemble another Connor type if he drops weight and adds speed, or a slogger who can bash worn out defenses. McFarland is a guy who can come in and punish tired defenses and is a threat to house one on any carry. I’m not sure what to make of Samuel. I’m not sure he’s a lock to make the team. If he does, he’ll need to improve almost every aspect of his game, but he’s very versatile. I don’t think either Connor or McFarland are guys who should be getting 20+ carries a game. I could see a split like: Connor 15, Snell 5-10, McFarland 5-10. I can see some real funky looks on offense. Wing backs seem to be a favorite of Canada and IIRC, Fitchner showed some creative looks at RB when he was the OC at Memphis. Add in Watt as FB, and we could see some really creative looks in the backfield.

I’m not really sure what I was hoping to accomplish with this thread. Ramblings of a crazy person, maybe. Either way, I’m excited about the offense. I think even a moderate improvement on that side of the ball makes us a playoff team. A big improvement there makes us a super bowl contender. 

Ummm, so I guess talk about the offense here? What did I get wrong? What are you excited about? Will this offseason ever end? How about @MOSteelers56 incessant use of questions? Seriously is this still going on?

[Chieferific]

12 minutes ago, MOSteelers56 said:

I’ve been really thinking about the potential for our offense next year and I think it might be really special. On paper we have a very versatile offense. Obviously it all starts with #7’s arm, but we might really surprise some people. 

We have a versatile offensive line. Maulers and pass blockers. I want to see Feiler start at LG and Chuks or Banner take RT. Chuks can provide some athleticism and Banner could provide power in the run game. 

For Pass Catchers we have toughness, route running, speed, and size. We’ve got JuJu and Johnson who are crafty route runners and underneath/intermediate weapons. Ebron and Claypool are size mismatches in the RZ. Washington provides great hands, toughness, and an occasional deep threat. 

For runners another packed versatile group. Connor provides toughness and slashing. He can punish a defense and tire them out. Snell is a guy who will either resemble another Connor type if he drops weight and adds speed, or a slogger who can bash worn out defenses. McFarland is a guy who can come in and punish tired defenses and is a threat to house one on any carry. I’m not sure what to make of Samuel. I’m not sure he’s a lock to make the team. If he does, he’ll need to improve almost every aspect of his game, but he’s very versatile. I don’t think either Connor or McFarland are guys who should be getting 20+ carries a game. I could see a split like: Connor 15, Snell 5-10, McFarland 5-10. I can see some real funky looks on offense. Wing backs seem to be a favorite of Canada and IIRC, Fitchner showed some creative looks at RB when he was the OC at Memphis. Add in Watt as FB, and we could see some really creative looks in the backfield.

I’m not really sure what I was hoping to accomplish with this thread. Ramblings of a crazy person, maybe. Either way, I’m excited about the offense. I think even a moderate improvement on that side of the ball makes us a playoff team. A big improvement there makes us a super bowl contender. 

Ummm, so I guess talk about the offense here? What did I get wrong? What are you excited about? Will this offseason ever end? How about @MOSteelers56 incessant use of questions? Seriously is this still going on?

Interestingly, Tomlin says he's a "Feature Runner type of guy".  

https://www.pennlive.com/steelers/2020/05/mike-tomlin-talks-rb-preference-with-fans-why-the-steelers-wont-go-to-a-by-committee-approach-if-he-can-help-it.html

[AFF]

Steelers went from 1st in 2018 to last in 2019 in red zone TD%...enter Ebron/Claypool/and Canada with a lot of pre snap motion etc etc.

They will start out slow...Ben will be rusty...teams aren’t going to want to face them come November on if they stay healthy.

[kurgan]

I think our offense is all about roles.  Everyone has a role.  It is easy to say that we are an '11' personnel team and have skill guys in that are DJ, JJSS, JW, VD and Connor.  I mean, that will be a base set, but our personnel roles are so much more.  We will have the ability to mix and match sets and formations to expose a defense.  Small, quick corners?  Have some JJSS, EE and CC in your life.  Poor safeties?  Throw JJSS/EE in the slot and have them go to work?  No cover backers?  Use EE/Samuels/VM or even DJ as a #3 on the same side as JW and CC.  Weak/backup LB?  Pound the rock with 3 220+ backs, a FB and if you stack the box, a home run threat.

I mean, look at a potential 10 personnel or even empty set.  If you put JJSS, JW, DJ, EE AND CC on the field in empty, what do you do as a defense??  A S or LB will end up on a mismatch.  With Ben's quick throwing, we could no-huddle/empty all the way down the field.  Then, you take a TO and readjust, and we come out with some 13 personnel with Banner, VD and EE detached with maybe JJSS, and run right at you with Benny Snell.  I mean, this offense is not dominated by 1-2 superstar players (Lamar Jackson/OBJ for instance).  We have guys that can hurt you in areas.  I mean, I would not want to try to cover VD, EE, CC and JJSS in the redzone.  They can all hurt you.

I think the battle will be at RT along the OL.  Banner and Chuks will fight it out... I am on the Feiler to LG train.  Mostly cuz I cannot see who else would play there (I am not a fan of Wiz being the guy at LG).  The 'loser' will be swing tackle/big TE, which they both have done.  I like the diversity of the runningback room, and can see ways in which multiple guys get on the field in certain sets (not just traditional RB/FB, but split backs, wing backs and even slot WR).  I love the WR room (sleep on JW if ya want to).  The only spot I am not keen on is TE, where we only have Vance.  I hope Gentry steps up, or CSW makes the team.

All of this falls on the arm of Ben, though.

[August4th]

I might tear up when we get decent offensive production after what we witnessed last season

Edited May 16, 2020 by August4th

[Displayname]

Definitely starts with Ben. I had more hope in Duck then Mason. IMO, their career back ups. Mason may have a career like Jones did for us. Just judging what I’ve seen from him. No future Franchise QB behind Ben. 

I expect this WR group to be good/great. I still believe Juju can be a number 1 WR. I like that this group can win contested catches. That’s going to be big early on with Bens rust. I really hope Cain can make the roster over switzer. He adds more deep threat abilities and contested catches over switzer 3 for 8s offensively. I think punt return duties are for Johnson.
 

Running backs are an interesting group. I can see us keeping 5 counting Watt. Really depends on Snells pass pro development and where AMF is. With wingbacks being a thing, Samuels could even have some roles there giving his Swiss Army knife experience. I’m struggling to find if AMF has return capabilities. I would really enjoy his speed on kick offs. Definitely would help get switzer off the roster. 

O-line was upgraded when foster retired. I hate to paint a dark picture on him, however, it was his time. My preference is the best 5 out there. If that means Feiler at RT and wis/Dotson at LG or Feiler at LG and banner/Chuks at RT. I know DeCastro has been RG throughout his nfl career. Does he have any experience at LG? 
 

TE group is concerning since EE is more of a big slot. I’m curious if we’ll see Watt in some TE packages also.

i know I spit ball ideas about Samuels, Watt, and possibly DeCastro. If it gets the best 11 on field at all times,  why not? 

 

 

[MOSteelers56]

I think McFarland has returned at least one kick during his college career. I saw a breakdown(maybe on BTSC) and they talked about it.

[MOSteelers56]

On 5/15/2020 at 12:36 PM, Chieferific said:

Interestingly, Tomlin says he's a "Feature Runner type of guy".  

https://www.pennlive.com/steelers/2020/05/mike-tomlin-talks-rb-preference-with-fans-why-the-steelers-wont-go-to-a-by-committee-approach-if-he-can-help-it.html

I saw that. Well actually I saw his comments at another site, but either way I saw it. I think he was a little more nuanced in his answer than just your quote, but I think he needs to evolve a bit of his mindset in regards to this. 

I think Connor will still get the lion’s share of touches. I think he’ll have a big year if he’s healthy (which is a big if). He runs a lot better behind a lead blocker statistically and Watt is most likely a better FB than Nix was. I might be wrong but I always felt like Nix was more of a tough guy than an actual lead blocker. I feel like he was a ST guy that needed to be on the roster for that but not for his actual FB skill.

[Shady Slim]

yeah i'm so excited to see them come out on the field - gotta remember that for all the flaws under fichner in the first season (last season a total mulligan), we could have been 12-4 but for a boswell fg against the raiders, ben pick on the goal line in denver and being screwed out of the chargers game with a bogus offsides

as i've said in other threads the number of looks we can give oppositions, and ben saying he's throwing without pain for the first time in a while makes me so very optimistic... and having an extra threat with claypool who's a big guy and diontae and james with another year of progression can hopefully take the heat off of juju and let him flourish in this offense again... better play along the o-line would be a boon too.

[August4th]

I hope they keep Cain around

I think he could be one of the better number 5 WR in the NFL

Edited May 16, 2020 by August4th

[turtle28]

On 5/15/2020 at 2:55 PM, AlanFanecaFan said:

Steelers went from 1st in 2018 to last in 2019 in red zone TD%...enter Ebron/Claypool/and Canada with a lot of pre snap motion etc etc.

They will start out slow...Ben will be rusty...teams aren’t going to want to face them come November on if they stay healthy.

[turtle28]

I love threads like these, so thanks for starting it! I too have these thoughts about my favorite teams and just want to write something positive every now and then and have people either agree w/ me or rip it apart piece by piece, either way it’s fun and makes for good conversation amongst what I consider brothers.

I really concur with everything written by @MOSteelers56. I would like to add McDonald into the conversation as well. I say this bc with the addition of Ebron and Claypool and their abilities to be big redzone targets and guys that can be moved around from outside to the slot in order to create mismatches, McDonald seems to have become a forgotten guy. With Ben back - and hopefully healthy - McDonald should once again get more targets as he did in 2018. I think he can be very important as an in-line TE around the goal line and on 3rd downs. 

I also would add a few things to possibly liven up the conversation a little and I’m sure there will be some blowback.

Has this forum discussed signing Cam Newton at all? It’s been mentioned by some talking heads in the National media and a guy local in DC that they could see Newton as a back up in Pitt or Seattle. I think it would make sense for the Steelers bc as we saw last year they can’t definitely count on Rudolph or Duck to be the guy to keep them a contender should Ben go down again. And, as we all know, this team has young talent but in a lot of ways is also built to win right now and I’d hate to see something happen to Ben again and then vets like Heyward, Hayden, Decastro and Pouncey miss out on their chance to go to the playoffs again and possibly compete to go to the Super Bowl.

Obviously as well, the Steelers don’t have much cap space - it’s arguable if they‘ll have any at all after they sign their rookies - and they need use an upgrade at NT like Damon “Snack” Harrison if they want a run D that can compete to stop the Ravens.

I don’t know, Cam is just something to ponder I think. 

Edited May 17, 2020 by turtle28

[MOSteelers56]

I think it would be cool to have Cam. It would be drama but I wouldn't mind to have him. I like Rudolph but I don't trust him to win playoff games, or an extended stretch really. If Cam is healthy and would want to backup Ben, I think he'd be a good fit. Sign him, he backs up Ben and we win the SB, Ben retires, Cam takes over and extends our window for another 2-3 years, we win another SB with Cam. Sounds good to me. 

[August4th]

would be down to bring cam in on a one yr deal. I wonder if his body could up to goal line packages/short downs. would be a nice weapon to have in those spots, so we could still get use out of him with a healthy Ben as the starter.

[oksteeler]

I agree with the whole viewpoint of versatility. This will be our greatest weapon on offense. We will have more depth on offense than 90% of the league and that is a really good thing. What we don't have is elite talent. Ben is no longer a top 5 quarterback, Connor isn't top 15, McDonald isn't top 15 and JJSS isn't top 10. This is all fine, until someone is able to line up across from you with better athletes. A Revis Island corner provides the same thing that a top 5 wr does, mismatches that make the opponent adjust every time. We look like an AFC contender, but unless we have great health and breakout years from a wideout (JJSS) and a runningback (Connor or McFarland) we will find our ceiling short of a championship.

Either way we are in for a fun and exciting season with an exceptional team.