Steelers quarterbacks all show improved offensive Pro Football Focus grades

The Pittsburgh Steelers continued their 2022 NFL season with their second preseason matchup on Saturday night in Jacksonville against the Jaguars. Although the Steelers came away with a victory, there were still areas of concern on both sides of the ball. While it was discouraging to see the offense put up half as many points as the previous game, it was also encouraging to see the defense only surrender one touchdown and two field goals.

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 second preseason performance. Remember, these are just the grades for the Steelers for this past game and not combined with their previous performance. 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. Next 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 57 snaps on offense in Saturday’s preseason game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

WR Tyler Vaughns: 91.5 (10 snaps)
WR Chase Claypool: 83.2 (16 snaps)
QB Mason Rudolph: 80.1 (32 snaps)
QB Mitch Trubisky: 78.9 (15 snaps)
TE Pat Freiermuth: 76.9 (22 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

G Kendrick Green: 45.9 (34 snaps)
G John Leglue: 45.8 (29 snaps)
RB Benny Snell Jr.: 44.4 (17 snaps)
WR Gunner Olszewski: 37.1 (22 snaps)
TE Connor Heyward: 28.9 (22 snaps)

Quarterback

QB Mason Rudolph: 80.1 (32 snaps)
QB Mitch Trubisky: 78.9 (15 snaps)
QB Kenny Pickett: 76.6 (10 snaps)

While some fans will question the order of the quarterback rankings as Kenny Pickett highly impressed Saturday night with his only incomption being on a spike, it is noteworthy that each quarterback scored even higher individually than the previous week. And even though Mason Rudolph lead the way, it should be put in context as Coach Tomlin stated after the game as he was a varsity guy going against the JV. As for Trubisky, it’s surprising he could get a grade at all with way to the offensive line performed in front of him.

Running Backs

RB Jaylen Warren: 67.5 (18 snaps)
RB Anthony McFarland Jr.: 55.4 (11 snaps)
RB Max Borghi: 54.9 (5 snaps)
RB Mataeo Durant: 52.8 (6 snaps)
RB Benny Snell Jr.: 44.4 (17 snaps)

After having a great night rushing the ball the previous week, the Steelers running backs combined for 10 rushing yards between them. Jaylen Warren was the only player above the 60.0 starting standard, and it’s no surprise Benny Snell landed at the bottom of the list.

Receivers

WR Tyler Vaughns: 91.5 (10 snaps)
WR Chase Claypool: 83.2 (16 snaps)
TE Pat Freiermuth: 76.9 (22 snaps)
WR Tyler Snead: 72.0 (16 snaps)
WR Miles Boykin: 67.1 (8 snaps)
WR Diontae Johnson: 62.6 (25 snaps)
WR Steven Sims: 61.3 (13 snaps)
WR George Pickens: 55.0 (24 snaps)
TE Zach Gentry: 53.1 (17 snaps)
WR Cody White: 52.1 (11 snaps)
WR Christian Blake: 51.8 (15 snaps)
TE Kevin Rader: 47.4 (7 snaps)
WR Gunner Olszewski: 37.1 (22 snaps)
TE Connor Heyward: 28.9 (22 snaps)

When it comes to the pass catchers, there’s no surprise to see players like Chase Claypool and Pat Freiermuth towards the top. The connection between Mason Rudolph and Tyler Vaughns to move the Steelers quickly down the field at the end of the game makes his top score on offense not a surprise. While it is somewhat discouraging to see George Pickens come down to earth after last week, what is more disheartening and seeing Gunner Olszewski and Connor Heyward as the bottom two scores for the entire offense.

Offensive Line

G William Dunkle: 76.4 (18 snaps)
OT Chuks Okorafor: 71.0 (28 snaps)
OT Trent Scott: 67.7 (29 snaps)
C Ryan McCollum: 60.9 (7 snaps)
G Kevin Dotson: 60.6 (23 snaps)
C J.C. Hassenauer: 57.9 (22 snaps)
C Mason Cole : 57.8 (28 snaps)
G James Daniels: 56.9 (28 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 52.2 (39 snaps)
G Kendrick Green: 45.9 (34 snaps)
G John Leglue: 45.8 (29 snaps)

The offensive line was not good Saturday night, so I’m surprised some of the scores were even this high. Chuks Okorafor has been the best offensive lineman through two games, but it’s not like he played great this week. The fact a player who was added to the roster just this week topped the list should be an indictment on the rest of the players. Seeing Kendrick Green at the bottom again goes to show what I believe as he does not have the physical attributes to play guard in the NFL despite him being more comfortable with that position. When it came to pass blocking, Kevin Dotson was the top score with an 82.6 with Dunkle getting the top run blocking score with only a 66.3 as all the run blocking scores were extremely average. I also must admit I did not realize Joe Haeg did not play in the game until I noticed he wasn’t on the list.

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.