Put yourself in Arthur Smith’s shoes for a second.
When news broke of the Steelers hiring the 41-year-old in late January — the official announcement came Feb. 2 — Smith’s top two quarterbacks were Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph. Team president Art Rooney II backed the former, said they’d like to have the latter back in 2024 and oddly mentioned nothing about Russell Wilson or Justin Fields.
Yeah, Arthur, about that ...
The quarterback merry-go-round certainly changed the calculus of Smith’s job. So did the Steelers trading Diontae Johnson and releasing Mason Cole and Allen Robinson II. Since arriving in Pittsburgh, it seems all the Steelers have done has been move the goal posts on the former Falcons coach.
But as Smith sat at the front of a second-floor meeting room at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Friday for the second night of the NFL draft, it almost felt like the Steelers rewarded his patience by further improving their offensive line with the selection of West Virginia’s Zach Frazier at No. 51 overall.
“Any great team I’ve been around, it always starts up front,” Smith said. “You want to play a certain brand of football, Steelers football. It certainly helps having the right guys.”
What the Steelers did feels like a solid start, taking one of their top options at tackle in Troy Fautanu and following it up with the two-time All-American and four-year starter for the Mountaineers.
Pittsburgh’s top two picks are pretty similar dudes, too, if you think about it.
You should know plenty by now about Fautanu’s obsession with Troy Polamalu and the Steelers as a kid, but the crazier part is he was able to wear No. 43 because he played fullback and defensive line. Only in high school did Fautanu shift to offensive line.
When he wasn’t playing football, Fautanu was a standout volleyball player — yes, volleyball.
“I was shocked to learn that about Troy,” Smith said. “I thought they may have had a weight limit.”
A day later, the Steelers shifted sports, acquiring someone who was a four-time state champion on the mat at West Virginia’s Fairmont High. Asked about his wrestling background, Frazier said it’s not all that dissimilar from playing offensive line.
“Every snap is either some form of hand-to-hand combat or using leverage,” Frazier said. “[Football and wrestling] are both just understanding how to move people.”
Fautanu and Frazier both seemingly have a nerd quotient to them, which I love, the two eagerly learning about new things. Frazier apparently enjoys woodworking, adding a different meaning to the idea of building something that lasts.
Most importantly, the concept of moving people applies to the offensive line stalwarts the Steelers selected on Friday, Fautanu and Frazier teaming with Broderick Jones to solidify the most important position on an offense for years to come.
But they’re hardly the only ones here who embrace the concept. Bringing Smith back to the media room was the Steelers’ selection of Michigan wide receiver Roman Wilson in the third round (No. 84) overall.
Although Wilson finished his career with the Wolverines by averaging 16 yards per reception and totaling 20 touchdowns, a key aspect to his game exists in his willingness to block. I’ve seen Wilson referred to as the bizarro Diontae Johnson, which tells me that Wilson might even recognize the importance of running forward instead of backward.
“Winning is more important than anything you could ever do on the field,” Wilson said. “Your main focus should be winning instead of trying to put up some crazy stat line.”
The kid lives it, too, going 110 mph on every play, seeking out contact and taking pride in the dirty work. It’s a trait that should endear Wilson to Steelers fans, oh, about midway through the first quarter of his NFL debut.
“If your mindset is to win a game, you’re going to go out there and do whatever your coach asks you to do to help your team win,” Wilson said. “For me at [national champion] Michigan, it was blocking.
“If I wanna win a game, I’m gonna go out there and block my ass off.”
Again, I couldn’t help but think about this through Smith’s eyes. The keys to the car obviously belong to Russell Wilson and potentially Fields. George Pickens remains an elite talent. There’s plenty to like with the 1-2 punch of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.
But despite the change at quarterback and questions that swirled about offensive line and wide receiver entering the draft, Pittsburgh’s new offensive coordinator seemed to be feeling pretty good about the weapons at his disposal.
There will also be ways to shape and mold this young group into one where its greatest strength could be different ways to move the ball.
“Every team I’ve been on, you want to win the line of scrimmage,” Smith said. “You also want to adapt to the strengths of your team. A lot of times, that’s coach speak, but to play with an edge, you need those guys up front.”
It might be textbook coach speak, it’s true.
It’s also accurate to say the Steelers got two key pieces up front, then kept the good times rolling by snagging a receiver Mike Tomlin clearly coveted throughout the pre-draft process. Could the Steelers have done better for themselves? It’s honestly tough to see.
As Smith spoke twice, first after the Frazier pick and again after Roman Wilson conjured thoughts of Hines Ward, it was hard to miss what felt like football justice — a wobbly situation when Smith started, the Steelers badly needing to score more points, furiously flipped into an artist’s dream.
Somewhere downstairs resides a blank canvas with some premium brushes and paint. It’s now up to Smith to start his own project, directing a unit that should be dynamic when it comes to both running the ball and passing it.
“I’m excited,” Smith said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to coach a lot of great, young players. These guys have a lot of experience.
“Certainly appreciate the investment. They’re top-end players. It’s our job to help them reach their potential.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and @JMackeyPG on X
First Published: April 27, 2024, 3:59 a.m.
Updated: April 27, 2024, 5:32 p.m.