Pat Freiermuth leads the Steelers midseason offensive Pro Football Focus grades

The Pittsburgh Steelers have reached the midpoint of the 2022 season. With 18 weeks of games (17 games and one bye), the midpoint comes following Week 9 and heading into Week 10 regardless of when teams have their bye. With the Steelers bye in Week 9, they head into the second half of the season after a much-needed break.

Being the midway point of the season, it’s a good time to check in and see where the Steelers players stand at this point of the year. That’s right, it’s time to check the cumulative grades for each player through eight games.

For this exercise, we will be looking at the player grades from Pro Football Focus (PFF) for the Steelers Week 1 through Week 8 performances. This time, there are the combined scores from all regular season 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 at this point of the season.

Instead of looking at the entire team at once, we break up the scores into offense and defense. First up is the offense. Included will be any players who played at least 10 snaps on offense and the total snap counts for each player will be included. Even players such as Chase Claypool, who is no longer with the team, will have his score included. For reference sake, the Steelers have played 535 snaps on offense so far this season, not including the fake punt.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

TE Pat Freiermuth: 74.4 (324 snaps)
FB Derek Watt: 73.5 (30 snaps)
QB Mitch Trubisky: 72.7 (241 snaps)
G James Daniels: 70.2 (535 snaps)
WR Miles Boykin: 68.0 (38 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

WR Steven Sims: 59.9 (20 snaps)
TE Connor Heyward: 56.1 (65 snaps)
WR Gunner Olszewski: 55.5 (40 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 55.1 (535 snaps)
TE Zach Gentry: 50.6 (254 snaps)

Quarterback

QB Mitch Trubisky: 72.7 (241 snaps)
QB Kenny Pickett: 60.6 (294 snaps)

There will obviously be people on both sides of the debate when it comes to the two Steelers quarterbacks used so far in 2022. Some feel the Steelers should have gone to Kenny Pickett sooner while others feel they went too soon. Although the numbers look like it could be the latter, it also comes down to what the Steelers are trying to accomplish at the quarterback position moving forward. But the difference in more than 10 points is worth noting. Additionally, Trubisky brings a 71.5 passing grade compared to Pickett’s 59.4 on the season. But Kenny Pickett holds a 68.3 rushing advantage to Trubisky’s 66.6. It also doesn’t help that Kenny Pickett has a very poor fumbling score of 56.1 through the first half of the season.

Running Backs

FB Derek Watt: 73.5 (30 snaps)
RB Jaylen Warren: 63.2 (165 snaps)
RB Najee Harris: 61.1 (367 snaps)

Derek Watt only has two games in which he scored above 61.0 this season, but when you play so few snaps a high score can elevate them towards the top. What I find more interesting with the running backs is how Jaylen Warren‘s pass blocking score for the season is merely a 29.4 where Najee Harris is at 64.9. Speaking of Harris, the biggest disappointment is how his score is down to 61.1 so far in 2022 from 69.6 in his rookie season. More significantly, Harris had a 71.5 rushing score last year to only 62.8 through Week 8.

Receivers

TE Pat Freiermuth: 74.4 (324 snaps)
WR Miles Boykin: 68.0 (38 snaps)
WR Diontae Johnson: 65.1 (490 snaps)
WR George Pickens: 63.8 (419 snaps)
WR Chase Claypool: 61.3 (462 snaps)
WR Steven Sims: 59.9 (20 snaps)
TE Connor Heyward: 56.1 (65 snaps)
WR Gunner Olszewski: 55.5 (40 snaps)
TE Zach Gentry: 50.6 (254 snaps)

Pat Freiermuth tops the Steelers offense due to his overall consistent play. Other than a 46.5 score in Week 2, Freiermuth has scores close to or above 70.0 in every game he appeared other than Buffalo when he left early. It should also be noted that if I used the standard of 40 snaps instead of 10, Diontae Johnson and Kevin Dotson would have been bumped up into the top five. Overall, the scores for this position group are a bit disappointing as four the bottom five spots belong to tight ends receivers. Even with Chase Claypool coming in at the middle of the pack and no longer with the team, hopefully this group can see a bump in their grades moving forward.

Offensive Line

G James Daniels: 70.2 (535 snaps)
G Kevin Dotson: 65.1 (535 snaps)
OT Chuks Okorafor: 64.8 (535 snaps)
C Mason Cole: 64.1 (530 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 55.1 (535 snaps)

The first thing that should be noted is the only offensive lineman that has missed a snap this year is a Mason Cole and he’s only missing five. After a rough preseason, James Daniels has settled in with a fairly consistent play that has been above the 60.0 mark every week. As stated previously, Kevin Dotson would have moved into the top five if the snap requirement would have been slightly higher. But what is getting Dotson is inconsistent play throughout the season. With marks above the line in weeks two, three, seven, and eight, the other four games were all scores in the 50s. If the consistency is there moving forward, this would obviously be a good thing. Dan Moore Jr. continues to struggle, mainly because of a 50.5 run blocking score and six penalties on the season. And, believe it or not, it’s Chuks Okorafor who has the highest run blocking grade of any of the Steelers offensive lineman at 65.9 through 8 games. And while the offensive line play could definitely be better, particularly in run blocking, they are not the complete mess that many feared going into the regular season.

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.