Steelers offensive Pro Football Focus grades show disparity in pass and run blocking

The Pittsburgh Steelers kicked off their 2022 NFL season a big road divisional win in Cincinnati. Although the Steelers came away with a victory, there were other losses in terms of injuries that could loom large over the season. While it was encouraging to see the defense get five takeaways, it was also discouraging for it to take overtime to still pull off the victory.

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 1 performance. Remember, these are just the grades for the Steelers for this past game and not combined with their previous performances for the preseason. 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 63 snaps on offense in Sunday’s game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

WR Miles Boykin: 76.7 (8 snaps)
TE Pat Freiermuth: 74.2 (56 snaps)
OT Chuks Okorafor: 70.1 (63 snaps)
WR Diontae Johnson: 69.2 (51 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 68.7 (63 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

G Kevin Dotson: 56.4 (63 snaps)
C Mason Cole : 54.9 (59 snaps)
WR Gunner Olszewski: 51.6 (9 snaps)
WR George Pickens: 50.1 (45 snaps)
RB Jaylen Warren: 48.9 (23 snaps)

Quarterback

QB Mitch Trubisky: 62.0 (63 snaps)

It’s not a score in the 70s like he received in each of the preseason games, but Mitch Trubisky’s 62.0 is indicative of a player who didn’t turn the ball over but only led the offense on one touchdown drive. As is the case with the entire offense, there’s going to take some time for continuity to occur. Both Trubisky‘s PFF score and performance from Sunday could probably fit in the “he didn’t kill us” category MIke Tomlin established in 2019.

Running Backs

FB Derek Watt: 59.6 (6 snaps)
RB Najee Harris: 56.5 (37 snaps)
RB Jaylen Warren: 48.9 (23 snaps)

Sorry, but the rant is coming here shortly. First, it’s never a good sign when a player who was only on the field six snaps and didn’t do much to move the arrow up or down with their score is the top player in the position group. My big problem comes with the score of Jaylen Warren, particularly his 22.9 pass blocking score which brought him down. PFF has him with six snaps where he was in pass protection and had him with such a poor score. But, as shown here in a breakdown by Brian Baldinger in two of the first three plays shown, Warren should have at least been commended for some of his blitz pick ups in pass protection:

As for Najee Harris, I agree with what many others have been saying in that he didn’t quite seen himself since dealing with injury during training camp.

Receivers

WR Miles Boykin: 76.7 (8 snaps)
TE Pat Freiermuth: 74.2 (56 snaps)
WR Diontae Johnson: 69.2 (51 snaps)
TE Zach Gentry: 65.3 (19 snaps)
WR Chase Claypool: 61.4 (58 snaps)
TE Connor Heyward: 60.0 (1 snap)
WR Gunner Olszewski: 51.6 (9 snaps)
WR George Pickens: 50.1 (45 snaps)

Several things stand out here. First, Miles Boykin ended up with the top score on the offense on only eight snaps because six of those plays he received a 92.8 run blocking score. Pat Freiermuth continues to show his value, as well as Diontae Johnson coming through despite battling a recent shoulder injury. Tight end Zach Gentry finished just out of the top five with a very unbalanced score. Gentry had the highest score when it came to passing/receiving where he had an 86.4 on five snaps but scored a 0.0 and his two snaps in pass blocking.

A big plus to start 2022 is that PFF had no drops on any passes by the Steelers in Week 1.

Another score I wanted to point out is where George Pickens landed at the bottom of the position group and next to last on the Steelers offense. I heard from a number of Steelers fans claiming Pickens was running wide-open all day and just simply wasn’t given the ball. While I cannot confirm or deny the statements, it appears PFF did not agree with them at all. As a reminder, everyone should feel free to form their own conclusion when it comes to Pickens’ first game.

Offensive Line

OT Chuks Okorafor: 70.1 (63 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 68.7 (63 snaps)
G James Daniels: 64.8 (63 snaps)
OT Trent Scott: 60.3 (2 snaps)
C J.C. Hassenauer: 60.0 (4 snaps)
G Kevin Dotson: 56.4 (63 snaps)
C Mason Cole : 54.9 (59 snaps)

A huge concern coming into the matchup, it was nice to see the Steelers starting tackles in the top five for the team. In what many would expect, the Steelers offensive line scores were quite solid when it came to pass blocking with James Daniels leading the way with a 79.3 score. Even though Kevin Dotson and Mason Cole were at the bottom in pass blocking, both of them had a pass blocking score over 65 on the game. But when it came to run blocking, the only offensive linemen above the 60.0 standard was Chuks Okorafor with a 68.7 run blocking score. The rest of the offensive line finished in the 40s or 50s. While it was a step in the right direction, the scores also show areas for growth.

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.