On Friday, the Pittsburgh Steelers officially announced Arthur Smith as the team’s new offensive coordinator. We have and will continue to dig into everything the addition could mean for this team but let’s talk about one big thing specific to the quarterback position.
The best quarterback on the Steelers last season was Mason Rudolph. After an ineffective Kenny Pickett went down with an injury, Rudolph stepped up when Mitch Trubisky struggled and helped carry the offense.
Rudolph is also a free agent and the first inclination is for the Steelers to do their best to re-sign him despite the presence of Kenny Pickett. However, if you dig into what Smith likes to do with the quarterback, Rudolph may not have a place on the depth chart.
Going back to when Smith was the offensive coordinator through his time with the Falcons, Smith utilized a near-exclusive zone scheme and loved to utilize zone runs with the quarterback. Whether it was Ryan Tannehill, Marcus Mariota or Desmond Ridder, Smith wants to use an athletic quarterback to expand the rushing offense.
Rudolph does a lot of great things but he is not going to frighten anyone with his legs. He’s more late-career Ben Roethlisberger than early-career Roethlisberger. We’ve never felt like Pickett utilized his athleticism nearly enough so the addition of Smith could be huge for Pickett in 2024.
