The Pittsburgh Steelers offense has been horrible to watch over the past few seasons. There are a number of reasons for that, but one of the biggest is how predictable it has been. Some fans sitting at home may have noticed it, and if so, every defensive coordinator across the country has noticed it, and some players have seen it. But with Matt Canada gone and Arthur Smith coming in as offensive coordinator, there should be a huge improvement in that department. But can the Steelers take it one step further and make their offense one of the most creative in the league? One analyst seems to think so.
Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr recently published an article analyzing his bold predictions for the upcoming season, one of which was that new Steelers quarterback Justin Fields would score five touchdowns as a non-quarterback, meaning he would have to play wide receiver or running back. As he explained on the MMQB NFL Podcast, Oher seems to believe the Steelers could become the first team to run an effective dual-quarterback system with Fields and Russell Wilson sharing the field at the same time.
“Imagine a third-and-6 from their 45. You’ve got Russell Wilson in the shotgun, and Justin Fields lining up next to him like a running back, and you can do a zone read,” Orr said. “Think about how much more attention and focus and what the guys in the middle have to have to figure out. Is Justin Fields going to get the ball and run it? You’ve got Justin Fields behind you, and you’ve got to have more guys in coverage. You’ve got more guys behind you.”
Orr’s scenario sounds solid in theory, especially since Fields already has a 1,000-yard rushing season under his belt. In practice, however, there are a few pitfalls to the idea. First, Fields appears ready to compete for the starting quarterback job, and having him work in this gimmicky role would essentially be waving the white flag in that regard.
Also, the Steelers quarterback depth behind Fields and Wilson is poor, with career traveler Kyle Allen being the only player with experience behind them. If Fields gets hurt on a run play and Wilson goes down later, the Steelers would be in a worse position than they were at quarterback last year.
This isn’t the first time an NFL team has implemented this kind of cheating scheme, but the 2008 Miami Dolphins similarly utilized a wildcat formation, as Orr suggests. It worked well enough to help them win the division and make the playoffs, but it has been much less effective since that season. So the Steelers can implement this cheating scheme, but the less they use it, the more effective it will be. It’s also too early to try to install it so that it lasts a whole season.
But Orr seems convinced that the idea is the future of the league, and he expresses confusion that no team has yet tried it seriously.
“I can’t believe we’re not doing this yet. I can’t believe we’re not there yet. When the team gets there, it seems like the most logical thing in the world.”
Orr is adamant that this style of offense is the future, but hopefully the Steelers won’t actually put it to the test. A team with better quarterback depth or lower expectations could pull it off, but the Steelers aren’t in a position to do it. With new offensive coordinator Smith, they’ll have to wait a full season to see if his scheme works for them. Smith has a history of success with mobile quarterbacks in offense, but not in the way Orr suggests. It could be a fun trick play to break out in tight games, but beyond that, the Steelers need to focus on fluency before trying any kind of trickery.
