George Pickens once again tops the Steelers offensive Pro Football Focus grades

The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped their fourth-straight game, this time in a really bad way, as the Buffalo Bills gave no doubt to the outcome of the game not long after it began. The offense moved the ball between the 20s and piled up a lot of yards, but ultimately only put three points on the board. As for the defense, they surrendered over 500 yards and gave up four touchdown drives that were three plays or less.

But how did the individual players grade out?

For this exercise, we will be looking at the player grades from Pro Football Focus (PFF) for the Steelers Week 5 performance. Remember, these are just the grades for the Steelers for this past game and not combined with their previous performances. Before going any further, I must give the typical disclaimer that PFF grades are subjective. While some people rely on them heavily, others are quite skeptical of the process in which they are determined. It is completely up to each person as to how much stock they put into PFF’s grades. For me, I often look at the grades to see if my own “eye test” lines up with what others viewed as how a player performed. If nothing more, the grades create a discussion about how accurate, or inaccurate, they are each week.

Instead of looking at the entire team at once, we break up the scores into offense and defense. First up this week is the offense. Included will be all the players who played at least one snap and the total snap counts for each player will be included. For reference sake, the Steelers played 75 snaps on offense in Sunday’s game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

WR George Pickens: 76.9 (57 snaps)
WR Miles Boykin: 74.0 (5 snaps)
TE Connor Heyward: 70.1 (10 snaps)
QB Kenny Pickett: 65.8 (75 snaps)
OT Chuks Okorafor: 65.5 (75 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

WR Diontae Johnson: 56.2 (70 snaps)
C Mason Cole: 55.9 (75 snaps)
WR Chase Claypool: 54.9 (68 snaps)
G Kevin Dotson: 51.2 (75 snaps)
RB Najee Harris: 49.7 (37 snaps)

Quarterback

QB Kenny Pickett: 65.8 (75 snaps)

Kenny Pickett’s score was almost identical to last week but was slightly lower. Despite putting up a lot of passing yards, the Steelers offense also didn’t find the end zone. But both Pickett’s passing grade and running grade were above average with a 64.7 passing score and a 65.9 grade for running plays.

Running Backs

RB Jaylen Warren: 62.3 (38 snaps)
FB Derek Watt: 60.6 (2 snaps)
RB Najee Harris: 49.7 (37 snaps)

Even though Najee Harris had an 82.8 pass blocking grade, his 45.5 passing score in 50.0 running score brought him to the bottom of the offense. To put it in perspective, and also tease the article coming later today about the defense, Harris wouldn’t have even finished in the bottom seven compared to the scores on defense. Jaylen Warren finds himself on top both in snap counts and overall score. It was also nice to see Warren with an 80.7 pass blocking grade to go along with his 63.3 running score. His 57.1 score for passing plays was brought down as he was credited with one drop.

Receivers

WR George Pickens: 76.9 (57 snaps)
WR Miles Boykin: 74.0 (5 snaps)
TE Connor Heyward: 70.1 (10 snaps)
TE Zach Gentry: 63.6 (48 snaps)
TE Pat Freiermuth: 60.8 (37 snaps)
WR Steven Sims: 57.8 (3 snaps)
WR Diontae Johnson: 56.2 (70 snaps)
WR Chase Claypool: 54.9 (68 snaps)

Even though the scores were not as high as the previous week, George Pickens is still on top again with Kenny Pickett as quarterback. Connor Heyward saw himself jump from the bottom to the top in his limited snaps. What might be the most noteworthy, and probably in line with what most Steeler fans are thinking, Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool were at the bottom of the position group and are not doing their young quarterback many favors.

Offensive Line

OT Chuks Okorafor: 65.5 (75 snaps)
G James Daniels: 62.8 (75 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 62.5 (75 snaps)
C Mason Cole: 55.9 (75 snaps)
G Kevin Dotson: 51.2 (75 snaps)

Chuks Okorafor landed back on top of the position group with James Daniels close behind as has been the more normal placement of these players. Steelers fans may be surprised to see Dan Moore Jr. just behind Daniels, but he had the highest run blocking score of anybody on the offense on Sunday of 72.4 despite giving up a sack in pass blocking. It was Mason Cole’s 26.7 pass blocking score which dropped him down this week as he surrendered his first sack as a member of the Steelers.

So, what do you think of the above grades? Do they pass the eye test? Let us know your thoughts on the Steelers’ defensive grades in the comments below.