The Steelers offensive Pro Football Focus grades show inconsistent play abounds

The Pittsburgh Steelers got an expected performance on both sides of the ball in their 37-30 loss to the Bengals. The offense delivered more points than they have all season yet disappeared for a long stretch and couldn’t deliver in key moments. As for the defense, I doubt any players in the meeting room would be satisfied with surrendering 37 points.

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 11 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 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 73 snaps on offense in Sunday’s game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

RB Jaylen Warren: 80.3 (3 snaps)
TE Pat Freiermuth: 74.6 (52 snaps)
G Kevin Dotson: 73.0 (73 snaps)
RB Najee Harris: 68.0 (67 snaps)
C J.C. Hassenauer: 67.2 (41 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

FB Derek Watt: 54.8 (7 snaps)
TE Connor Heyward: 54.1 (4 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 51.5 (73 snaps)
WR Diontae Johnson: 50.3 (70 snaps)
WR Steven Sims: 43.0 (32 snaps)

Quarterback

QB Kenny Pickett: 55.9 (73 snaps)

I would love to know what Kenny Pickett’s score would have been in the first half because I have a feeling it would have been above the line rather than below. But it takes an entire game in order to be successful and that didn’t happen against the Bengals. Pickett‘s passing score was slightly less than last week at 57.6 but he saw a much lower running score of 57.5 after two consecutive weeks in the 80s. This was the biggest reason Pickett’s score dropped over 10 points from the previous week.

Running Backs

RB Jaylen Warren: 80.3 (3 snaps)
RB Najee Harris: 68.0 (67 snaps)
RB Benny Snell Jr.: 60.5 (3 snaps)
FB Derek Watt: 54.8 (7 snaps)

It’s kind of disappointing that a player who got injured after only three snaps had the highest score on offense for the week. Jaylen Warren’s play on his reception for 9 yards which became to first down was impressive, but it ultimately cost him with a hamstring injury. Najee Harris turned in his best overall score of the season along with his best rushing score this year of 69.5 along with a pass blocking score of 78.0. Benny Snell got his first snaps at running back this season and registered a 74.1 pass blocking grade as well. But when it comes to the consistency factor, Derek Watt seems to be either at the top or at the bottom almost every week with his very limited snaps.

Receivers

TE Pat Freiermuth: 74.6 (52 snaps)
WR Gunner Olszewski: 66.2 (31 snaps)
WR George Pickens: 65.5 (63 snaps)
TE Zach Gentry: 55.9 (30 snaps)
WR Miles Boykin: 55.7 (3 snaps)
TE Connor Heyward: 54.1 (4 snaps)
WR Diontae Johnson: 50.3 (70 snaps)
WR Steven Sims: 43.0 (32 snaps)

If someone asked me the most consistent player on the Steelers offense I would say Pat Freiermuth. And in this case, the PFF scores back it up. Freiermuth was once again at the top of the scores despite the group under-performing. George Pickens has been up and down this season with this week being more in the upper direction. Diontae Johnson was the one who fell down to the bottom as his passing grade was only a 51.5 for the week.

Offensive Line

G Kevin Dotson: 73.0 (73 snaps)
C J.C. Hassenauer: 67.2 (41 snaps)
G James Daniels: 66.1 (73 snaps)
C Mason Cole: 59.2 (32 snaps)
OT Chuks Okorafor: 55.4 (73 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 51.5 (73 snaps)

Kevin Dotson comes back in at the top of the group and has now turned in four-straight performances above a 60.0. But this came after three straight games that were below the standard. This week, it was Dotson’s 82.7 pass blocking grade which set him apart and lead the way for the Steelers. His 65.5 run blocking grade landed him third behind James Daniels (67.4) and J.C. Hassenauer (66.2). Speaking of Hassenauer, it must have been because I was paying more attention to the center position when he came in to see how he was performing as I didn’t think he had nearly the game his score reflects and the Steelers couldn’t do as much after Mason Cole exited. But the scores tell a different story.

Dan Moore Jr. came back down to earth after his best performance of his career last week. Going from a 91.3 run blocking score last week to a 42.3 against the Bengals is the definition of inconsistent. And to address all the inconsistencies going on, Chuks Okorafor has now become consistently mediocre after being the strength of the offensive line for the first half of their season to date.

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.