State of the Steelers

[MOSteelers56]

3 minutes ago, Dcash4 said:

https://www.reddit.com/r/steelers/s/2CMfOMuMON
 

interesting video. Not trying to convince anyone that Najee is great, but I think they need to really study how teams are attacking him in the run. 

My solution would be changing the math in gun with fields and read option looks…but they seem to have no desire for that. 

I definitely think some of the Najee hate is unwarranted. He’s a guy that needs a scheme to really suit him. I don’t really think Smith’s scheme does. I’m interested to look at the link. 

It doesn’t help that our interior line is a MASH unit. 

[VigilantZombie]

I would be money on the idea that Najee plays for Dallas next season.

[warfelg]

2 hours ago, MOSteelers56 said:

I definitely think some of the Najee hate is unwarranted. He’s a guy that needs a scheme to really suit him. I don’t really think Smith’s scheme does. I’m interested to look at the link. 

It doesn’t help that our interior line is a MASH unit. 

Alex Kozora had a similar video on this stuff today but I saw someone make a good point. 

The eye test and difference between Najee and Patterson/Healthy Warren is in the feet. This guys keep their feet moving. Every cut from Najee is a jump cut where he stops his feet. That’s where NextGen stats is so good. It negates that one guy gets good blocking and another doesn’t. The Expected Yards stat doesn’t measure the stuff that video and link showed, but rather in any given moment how many yards can the ball carrier gain. And when only 7.7% of your runs go further than expected it’s a problem. It means you are getting stopped short of what you could gain by continually stopping, you are basically not moving laterally good enough, or you simply aren’t falling forward when hit. 

I feel like Najee’s issues get compounded by poor OL play but he has his own issues non-the-less. And I struggle with the fact that it’s now year 4, same issues exist, and same plays look better with someone else at RB. The thing I think he struggles more with is setting up his blockers. It’s like he gets into the hole (or where the play says it should be) then tries to react. You often hear about good RBs with his “hide” behind their line waiting for the hole to develop. When’s the last time that was said about Najee?

[Dcash4]

4 hours ago, MOSteelers56 said:

He’s a guy that needs a scheme to really suit him

I struggle with the scheme part - and that's mainly just a me thing. By definition, what Smith runs is the same things that Najee has run with the Steelers (to more success than Warren) and what he did at Alabama too. It's not the scheme, IMO, but what's coming with the scheme. 

I haven't look back at it to say with any certainty, but I would just be very curious to know if the defenses are responding differently to Najee in sets than others. Are we tipping our pitches? The clip I shared's big run from Patterson has the ILB wildly jumping the wrong way on a read. I just kinda wanna know why. That play has zero to do with Patterson. When you watch all the plays with Najee, he is flowing WITH the line, but with CP, the line blocks down left (where the ILB goes) and he runs right. 

I really don't know what the answer is, but I don't think it's that Najee is bad. He isn't special, but he can be productive. Why is it that there is no space when he runs? Is it just his abilities, is it the line, is it the scheme, is it the playcalls? Probably a mix...but still. 

I don't know. I would be looking to do three things more to try to get less predictable with Najee in the game. 1) pass more early 2) read-option with fields to control numbers and 3) RPO with Pickens and Muth

[jebrick]

Patterson/Warren can cut in the hole.  Sudden cuts.  They are also explosive enough that if you guess wrong, you are out of position.  Najee, not so much.

Again, 2025 draft is sooooooooooo deep in very good RBs they can get one in the 3rd or later that is much better.

[bigben07MVP]

For the podcast listeners, Robert Mays has a good conversation about Justin Fields and the Steelers offense in general on the Week 5 Preview podcast for the Athletic. Did you know Justin Fields is 5th in the NFL in drop back EPA per play (passing downs without play action or screens)? I think the conversation about the Steelers starts just after the 1 hour mark. Worth the listen. 

[bigben07MVP]

Fields among 33 qualified QBs:

EPA per dropback: +0.01 (No. 14)

Completion percentage over expected: +4.8% (No. 4)

Passer rating: 98.0 (No. 12)

Yards per attempt: 7.6 (No. 11)

PFF pass grade: 78.1 (No. 7)

[warfelg]

47 minutes ago, jebrick said:

Patterson/Warren can cut in the hole.  Sudden cuts.  They are also explosive enough that if you guess wrong, you are out of position.  Najee, not so much.

I was reading the Nick Farabaugh article, and I came to this conclusion (same as yours here):

He said that playcalls aren't doing him a favor, but also Najee isn't a lateral runner. And the question keeps coming up of "are we tipping run plays with him"? And what if....what if Najee is the tip. I mean you know he isn't explosive laterally so if it's a stretch or gap play as a defender why would you over pursue? Even at that if you do, you know you can recover and get back in the hole because he's not that quick. And then as a DC you know even if it is a downhill run if you send the right run blitz to hit the right hole, you impede his progress, make him bounce it, which brings back in his weakness.

So for Najee to have a quality run you need to (1) perfectly block a power run but (2) hope they send a run blitz at the wrong gap so he can keep going downhill. I feel like if Najee were even a little more laterally athletic he would be a much more effective runner because on those gap runs when he has the lane open he can at least get to it, even if he can't always break away from it. Or when someone gets in his hole he can adjust enough to make himself "skinny" through there.

[bigben07MVP]

1 hour ago, bigben07MVP said:

For the podcast listeners, Robert Mays has a good conversation about Justin Fields and the Steelers offense in general on the Week 5 Preview podcast for the Athletic. Did you know Justin Fields is 5th in the NFL in drop back EPA per play (passing downs without play action or screens)? I think the conversation about the Steelers starts just after the 1 hour mark. Worth the listen. 

Two interesting points they make:

- The constant revolving door at guard is most likely a huge culprit to the lack of rushing success so far, especially in Arthur Smith's zone scheme that requires a lot of chemistry and continuity at that spot. 

- With how bad the running game has been and Field's success as a straight passer so far, it almost makes even more sense to go trade for a WR2 like Davante Adams than it did before the season started. Might as well adjust and lean into passing a bit more. I really think with the way Fields is playing we could become a top 12-15 offense with another legit WR and passing a bit more on early downs. 

[skywlker32]

A thought I just had regarding the Najee struggles. What if it's not so much his presence on the field or the plays they typically run with him that is tipping off to the defense what the play is, but what if Najee is doing something pre-snap to tip off the defense where the play is going?

For example, maybe he digs in one of his feet depending on which direction the run play is going during pre-snap. Or if it will be a pass maybe he is more relaxed. I would hope the Steelers would see this and attempt to fix it though.

[MOSteelers56]

24 minutes ago, skywlker32 said:

A thought I just had regarding the Najee struggles. What if it's not so much his presence on the field or the plays they typically run with him that is tipping off to the defense what the play is, but what if Najee is doing something pre-snap to tip off the defense where the play is going?

For example, maybe he digs in one of his feet depending on which direction the run play is going during pre-snap. Or if it will be a pass maybe he is more relaxed. I would hope the Steelers would see this and attempt to fix it though.

I think just seeing Najee in the backfield is a tip. I don't think it's anything he does per se. Just him not being able to do all the types of runs successfully clues the defense in. That's kind of how I understand it. 

[rlon]

1 hour ago, MOSteelers56 said:

I think just seeing Najee in the backfield is a tip. I don't think it's anything he does per se. Just him not being able to do all the types of runs successfully clues the defense in. That's kind of how I understand it. 

I personally think that Najee needs to realize he has to be a vertical player. He takes too long feel out the hole, because he doesn't see it, one cut and hit it, and/or just doesn't make a decisively quick commitment to a north south move. The problem is not so much that he isn't a lateral player, the real problem is that he doesn't seem to realize this, and he has nowhere near elite vision or footwork. Love his heart and character make up. love his contact balance...but, he needs to focus on being sudden and vertical. IF you don't see it, hit it decisively anyway, go by instinct. When in doubt, just fire out and try to explode. There are too many negative plays on this offense, he is one of the reasons, but there are many. 

[jebrick]

As I said last season, Najee is better in a power gap blocking scheme than a wide zone scheme.

[Dcash4]

4 hours ago, warfelg said:

And what if....what if Najee is the tip

And this could 100% just be the answer. Teams could know how we play with Najee and what he can/can’t do. 

But that still all lands back on play-caller, IMO. What’s the counter to the counter? The best play callers across the league are not stagnant. 

If that’s the case, I want to come out and throw out of Najee in the single back. If we could out run, run, pass to no avail Smith’s the problem then. 

I just want them to ask the question why to things more. IMO we have been bad at that over the years. 

[3rivers]

1 hour ago, jebrick said:

As I said last season, Najee is better in a power gap blocking scheme than a wide zone scheme.

we proved that late in the season, then decided to go back to what doesn't work (for najee) .