PITTSBURGH _ It was a little more than two months ago that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin referred to his offense as being in a "fragile state." This was after the Steelers went to the wildcat to help secure their first victory of the season against the Bengals.
The Steelers were 1-3 then. They're 8-5 now, but much remains the same. Just as they were then, the Steelers are plugging along with young players on offense due to a spate of injuries at key positions. The big difference is the rookies and other new players that are playing big roles are much better now because they've gone through almost an entire NFL season.
Tomlin often talks about the big improvement players make from Year 1 to 2. It's the most significant time of their development as professional athletes because the lessons learned and the experience accumulated are invaluable in terms of their adjustment to the league.
This season, with injuries at quarterback, receiver and running back, the Steelers are getting uncommon contributions from rookies when they need it most.
Steelers quarterback Devlin Hodges celebrates after beating the Cardinals Sunday, Dec. 8, 2018, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
"I saw growth in certain areas that you need to see this time of the year if you're a team that's trending in the right direction, the young guys emerging and making the necessary plays in significant moments," Tomlin said of the 23-17 victory against the Cardinals on Sunday.
Tomlin started three rookies _ quarterback Devlin Hodges, receiver Diontae Johnson and linebacker Devin Bush _ and several others played big roles in the victory. Rookie running back Benny Snell and Kerrith Whyte tied for the team-lead in rushing with 41 yards apiece. Receivers Tevin Jones and Deon Cain aren't technically rookies because they've been on NFL practice squads, but they're playing in games for the first time in their professional careers.
Of the team's 140 rushing yards, rookies accounted for 132 of them. Of the team's 152 receiving yards, rookies accounted for 69 of them. And of course, Hodges accounted for all 152 passing yards.
That was some timely and important production for an offense that continues to miss most of its star players. Ben Roethlisberger has been out since Week 2. JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner have missed the past three games.
But the Steelers offense keeps doing just enough to eke out victories, and much of it is due to the young players stepping into roles veterans had occupied.
"It's good that it's starting to come from multiple places," Tomlin said. "A week ago, it was James Washington rising up and making the necessary plays for us. In the last game, Diontae did similar things. So it's back-to-back weeks we're talking about receivers rising up and making significant plays. It's important for us, and it's important for us that it's coming from different places. Collective and individual development is critical for us because of the circumstances we're in from a player availability standpoint. As you get into this portion of the year, plays have to be delivered from a variety of people and places. That contribution is significant."
Tomlin went on to sing the praises of Hodges, Snell and Whyte, too. It certainly seems like Tomlin has come a long way from his "fragile state of the offense" mindset. It's not that the Steelers are turning into an offensive juggernaut. They're not. In many ways, they have the same conservative offense that had to dive deep into the playbook to get their first win of the season against the Bengals.
Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and running back James Conner gesture to fans before the team takes on the Buccaneers Friday, August 9, 2019, at Heinz Field.
But in many ways, they're different, too. Hodges continues to demonstrate he might be more than a game manager. His touchdown pass to Johnson was a throw other starting quarterbacks in this league struggle to make. Hodges looked like he had made the throw a thousand times previously. Similarly, scrambling and throwing across his body to Washington on third down on the Steelers' final drive was a play reminiscent of a long-tenured veteran.
"He's been able to gain more traction and gain more exposure," Tomlin said. "He's been doing a good job of staying with the script, but he's also doing a good job of being thoughtfully aggressive at the appropriate times, too. I thought you saw that in the two-minute drill when we responded to their touchdown drive at the end of the first half. I thought you saw it on the possession downs on our last possession of the game. He did what was necessary in those moments. Those are the moments that define a young passer _ those moments, those plays that are weighted a little differently _ when you have a line to gain, when time is a factor. He's done a nice job of continuing to be the guy. That bodes well for him and for us."
As much as Tomlin has growing confidence in his young players, he's not force-feeding them into the offense even when injuries have depleted the unit. While fans want more of Snell and Whyte and Jones and Cain, Tomlin and offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner have been thoughtful in their approach to playing time.
"I think exposure is good provided there are a couple of caveats to that _ that it's not too much exposure," Tomlin said. "Too much exposure can be negative in young guys. That's why we've been thoughtful about the exposure of these people. That's why we don't play Devin Bush in all packages even though he has the talent level to play in all packages. That's why we're thoughtful in what we ask Diontae to do. He doesn't play 60 snaps a game. We want to manage that exposure because too much exposure is negative.
"But also as we push into Game 14, unless these guys played at Alabama, these guys are in uncharted territory. We're thoughtful about that exposure. We want them to be young players on the rise in this portion of the season. Sometimes that's not within your control. Sometimes lack of availability of others dictates that. But when given an opportunity, we like to be thoughtful about the long-range growth and development of these guys. So we're having these types of discussions in December, that we're talking about those guys being young guys on the rise rather than young guys hanging by a thread."
