Welcome to Brian Batko’s Steelers mailbag. You can submit your questions to Brian directly @BrianBatko on X and bbatko@post-gazette.com.
Sean from Beaver Falls: Russell Wilson is a playoff caliber QB and our offensive weapons are elite at times. When the offense stalls it is largely because of the offensive line – penalties, not opening the run game, and too often allowing the defense to jail break into the backfield on passing downs. Cannot cope with stunts, blitzes and losing too many 1-1 match ups. Seems like Russ has less than 1.2 seconds to survey the field and get rid of the ball before being chased or sacked. Constant pressure on the QB can be as debilitating to an offense as sacks. Jones is not good. Frazier and McCormick development has stalled. Moore and Seumalo seem to break down when it matters most. Is it the talent or the coaching? Given the OL will get younger next year, do you think, based on his body of work, Pat Meyer needs to go? I just do not see his genius at work here and his inability to lift up the OL is the root of too much chaos on offense. Thanks.
Brian: This isn’t to say Pat Meyer is a bad coach. He’s been part of a few success stories here. Dan Moore Jr. has made more strides under Meyer than he ever did under predecessor Adrian Klemm. Broderick Jones was thrust into an unfamiliar role as a rookie at right tackle and looked like a stud (but more on him later). Spencer Anderson has made strides as the fifth-to-last pick in 2023 to now being a versatile backup who was trusted enough to start the first few weeks of the season, while Ryan McCollum was ready to fill in for Zach Frazier and did so admirably for a couple of games.
But that’s some of the good. The not-so-good has been even more noticeable, hence Sean’s email. Jones regressed early this season. Kevin Dotson went to the Rams and thrived. The Steelers have ranked 26th, 17th and now 24th in yards per carry since 2022. That’s not strictly an offensive line stat, of course, but it’s a bigger-picture frame of reference, particularly given how the Steelers want to play.
Meyer was retained by Mike Tomlin prior to even hiring Arthur Smith as the new offensive coordinator, which always was a curious decision to me. I never want to call into question a position coach’s job security because it’s so difficult to evaluate from the outside. But on any staff, the offensive line coach is right up there among the most important jobs, and if the Steelers stay mired in their playoff drought, there are only so many variables to change on that side of the ball.
On one hand, a fresh start and new messaging could work well. On the flip side, a new coach would mean young players learning new techniques, terminology and all that comes with the nuances of O-line play.
Mark K: Brian - idea for the mailbag - how does Arthur Smith’s use of so many personnel compare to functioning offenses in the NFL? I get the need to swap out players occasionally but the eye test and some of the numbers I hear quoted on snaps per game etc tell me the best play makers are off the field way too much. I about fell out of my seat watching Cordarrelle Patterson take the 3rd and 3 snap at a critical point against the Chiefs during a game where the Chiefs could not contain Jaylen Warren. MyCole Pruitt fits into the overused category too. I just don’t get it. Can we have Todd Haley call Smith and tell him about how his use of Dri Archer produced exactly nothing? Eerily similar.
Brian: Obviously, this doesn't account for all the context, but George Pickens has played the 42nd-highest percentage of snaps among wideouts this season (not including the games he missed). Pat Freiermuth ranks 17th for tight ends and Darnell Washington 35th.
Cordarrelle Patterson has mostly vanished from the game plan over these past few weeks, with just five touches and 10 offensive snaps. I hear you if you say that’s five and 10 too many, but hey, in their defense, he did make a nice touchdown catch against the Ravens (as did Pruitt).
Arthur Smith has used the 12th-most unique lineups on offense this season with 329, but the Chiefs (396), Chargers (397) and Commanders (420) are even higher on that list. So he does like to mix it up, but that stat also is impacted by all the injuries at offensive line, quarterback and even running back earlier in the season.
Keith from Atlanta: For 2025 should we expect: Good Russ, Bad Russ or No Russ Russell Wilson was great 1st 3 games. Bad last 3 games. Not under contract for 2025.
Brian: I’d probably still bet on Russell Wilson returning for the Steelers in 2025 versus the field. The way he’s played — albeit uneven lately, as you state — surely provides a certain level of comfort after how badly the Steelers botched the initial post-Ben Roethlisberger plan at quarterback.
There also just won’t be many intriguing options on the quarterback carousel this offseason. I suppose they could decide between Wilson and Justin Fields, but moving on from a guy who just helped lead you to the postseason might be a tough call.
The wild card here is that the team’s evaluation of Wilson this time around will be much different than last season. He was a roster hack, a cheat code, a no-risk bargain basement pickup last year. Now, they’ll need to actually negotiate with him for the first time.
Peter H: Hi Brian. Three roster questions
1. What does Patterson bring to the team? He looks slow and old to me. I'm slow and old too but nobody wants me returning kicks.
2. After two first round choices at tackle do we need to do it again next year? Russ is running for his life most plays. I know we have one on IR but we'll need two at some point.
3. Is there anybody on the defense covering the middle of the field? Passes are getting caught and there is not a Steeler in sight.
Brian: Hi, Peter. Let’s see here ...
1. The kick returns are hard to watch, yes. I know he’s a savvy veteran in that realm and arguably the best to ever do it, but call me crazy, I prefer my kick returners to be fast and quick.
2. No, they need to see the Jones-Troy Fautanu pairing in action. Can’t give up on your scouting and plan that quickly. It’d be a bad allocation of resources, too.
3. Sometimes there are Steelers in sight, but usually they're pointing at each other asking what happened.
Ed H: Might you know how much gum Danny Smith stuffs into his mouth during each Steelers game? And might he be concerned about choking on it during the excitement of play?
Brian: I do not have an exact number for you, Ed, but Smith regaled us with tales of his gum chewing midseason. One specific anecdote was about a time three of his teeth came out with the gum because he was chewing so hard and he just put them in his pocket until he could go see his dentist.
But his dentist told me that was a bit of embellishment, as I mentioned in this Smith feature. It was one of my favorite stories of 2024, in case you missed it.
Happy New Year, everyone, and my apologies for missing this week’s chat. I vastly underestimated how much getting a stomach bug from my kids could knock me out, so that wasn’t fun. Enjoy the game Saturday night.
First Published: January 2, 2025, 10:00 a.m.
