Kenny Pickett leads the Steelers offensive Pro Football Focus grades

The Pittsburgh Steelers saved Christmas for Steelers Nation with a come-from-behind victory less than an hour before the clock struck midnight. The offense was able to find the end zone late when they needed it the most. As for the defense, they were once again dominant against the run and held the NFL’s leading rusher in check while pitching a shutout in the second half.

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 16 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 68 snaps on offense in Sunday’s game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

QB Kenny Pickett: 78.7 (68 snaps)
WR George Pickens: 71.1 (55 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 68.6 (68 snaps)
TE Connor Heyward: 68.4 (13 snaps)
RB Jaylen Warren: 65.9 (21 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

FB Derek Watt: 54.9 (2 snaps)
C Mason Cole: 54.0 (68 snaps)
WR Gunner Olszewski: 51.9 (8 snaps)
WR Steven Sims: 50.8 (33 snaps)
TE Zach Gentry: 43.5 (29 snaps)

Quarterback

QB Kenny Pickett: 78.7 (68 snaps)

Even though he grabbed the top grade this week, Kenny Pickett‘s overall score was not as high as Mitchell Trubisky’s the previous game. It was Pickett’s second-highest score on the season as he did have an 88.5 against the Colts in Week 12. Pickett’s score came with a 75.5 pass grade and a 68.7 run grade to help bring up his overall score higher than the individual pieces. And while the Steelers offense did struggle to get points on the board, Pickett and the offense came through in the end when it mattered.

Running Backs

RB Jaylen Warren: 65.9 (21 snaps)
RB Najee Harris: 59.7 (49 snaps)
FB Derek Watt: 54.9 (2 snaps)

The more writers for PFF shoot their mouth off on social media, the less serious people can take their grades. They also seem influenced by getting called out for their own stupidity and making up for it at a later time. For example, when Jaylen Warren gets a 30.8 pass blocking grade last week yet Brian Bollinger does a film break down about Jaylen Warren’s phenomenal pass blocking and blitz pick up, suddenly the next week Warren‘s pass blocking score shoots up to a 78.9 and was second best on the team. It’s almost like PFF has people with no idea what they’re doing scoring things and when the experts correct them they make sure it reflects it the next time.

Now that I’ve gone on my little rant (sorry I didn’t stay impartial on this one), let’s get to the actual running back scores. I was quite surprised that Najee Harris’ run score of 59.3 was not far behind a pass score of 59.6. With Harris catching six of nine targets for 42 yards, I thought he was a much better contributor in the passing game than in previous weeks. And while Derek Watt’s score dropped more than five points on his two snaps, he did have his streak of every carry of 2022 being for a first down snapped this week.

Receivers

WR George Pickens: 71.1 (55 snaps)
TE Connor Heyward: 68.4 (13 snaps)
WR Diontae Johnson: 64.2 (60 snaps)
TE Pat Freiermuth: 61.4 (55 snaps)
WR Miles Boykin: 57.4 (14 snaps)
WR Gunner Olszewski: 51.9 (8 snaps)
WR Steven Sims: 50.8 (33 snaps)
TE Zach Gentry: 43.5 (29 snaps)

The players who were the most involved in the Steelers passing game ended up at the top of the list for the receivers. Connor Heyward had a very high score on his limited snaps, but it was mainly due to the highest run blocking score on the team of 72.7 and not his 21 -yard rush to seal the game as his rushing score was a 63.0. I didn’t really notice Heyward‘s run blocking in the game, but I guess it was good enough to get the job done. More importantly, players such as Pickens (71.3), Freiermuth (67.3), and Johnson (64.1) all had the highest pass scores this week other than Kenny Pickett.

Offensive Line

OT Dan Moore Jr.: 68.6 (68 snaps)
G Kevin Dotson: 65.5 (68 snaps)
G James Daniels: 62.5 (68 snaps)
OT Trent Scott: 60.0 (1 snap)
OT Chuks Okorafor: 56.7 (68 snaps)
C Mason Cole: 54.0 (68 snaps)

The offensive line did a nice job of not surrendering any sacks and had only two quarterback hits and five hurries according to PFF. Kevin Dotson lead the way when it came to pass blocking with an 84.7 but was brought down in his overall score by 56.2 run blocking score. It was similar for James Daniels who had a 78.5 pass blocking and 54.4 run blocking. The reason Dan Moore landed on the top of the list was he was the only player above the 60.0 threshold in both categories with a 71.8 pass blocking score and 62.5 run blocking score. While the Steelers interception was a play that stood out where Moore got walked right back into Pickett disrupting his throw, the score for a game is reliant on more than one play.

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.