Conner Heyward leads the Steelers offensive Pro Football Focus grades

The Pittsburgh Steelers finished off their 2022 season with a four-game winning streak despite just missing out on the postseason. The Steelers defense added two more interceptions to their total which finished tied for the NFL lead while holding their opponent to under 17 points for the seventh-straight game, and the offense put up their most points since Week 11.

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 18 performance. Remember, these are just the grades for the Steelers for this past game and not combined with their previous performances (which will come later). 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)

TE Connor Heyward: 84.5 (25 snaps)
T Trent Scott: 75.6 (6 snaps)
WR George Pickens: 75.4 (46 snaps)
FB Derek Watt: 75.2 (6 snaps)
QB Kenny Pickett: 70.7 (73 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

WR Steven Sims: 56.3 (33 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 55.0 (73 snaps)
RB Jaylen Warren: 54.9 (31 snaps)
OT Chuks Okorafor: 54.7 (73 snaps)
TE Pat Freiermuth: 40.2 (46 snaps)

Quarterback

QB Kenny Pickett: 70.7 (73 snaps)

Kenny Pickett finishes his rookie season scoring 70 or higher in five of his last six games. The only game Pickett didn’t score over 70 during that run was his eight total snaps against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 14. Finishing with a 73.5 passing score on Sunday, Pickett only had a 52.8 running score in Week 18.

Running Backs

FB Derek Watt: 75.2 (6 snaps)
RB Najee Harris: 64.5 (46 snaps)
RB Jaylen Warren: 54.9 (31 snaps)

When a player only plays six snaps and on those he gets one carry for a touchdown, his PFF score is probably going to be pretty decent. So seeing Derek Watt in the top five for the offense is really no surprise other than the fact that his individual scores all came in much lower with a 59.4 passing score, a 62.2 running score, and a 59.2 run blocking score. Najee Harris had the best passing score on the offense this week with an 82.8 but was knocked down due to a 36.4 pass blocking score. Jaylen Warren had the best pass blocking score on the team this week with an 84.8 but he was brought down with a 26.2 run blocking score. As you can see, all the players had strong parts of their game but were brought down for other things that PFF said were lacking.

Receivers

TE Connor Heyward: 84.5 (25 snaps)
WR George Pickens: 75.4 (46 snaps)
TE Zach Gentry: 70.3 (42 snaps)
WR Diontae Johnson: 60.8 (60 snaps)
WR Gunner Olszewski: 60.4 (13 snaps)
WR Miles Boykin: 57.2 (11 snaps)
WR Steven Sims: 56.3 (33 snaps)
TE Pat Freiermuth: 40.2 (46 snaps)

Connor Heyward ended up on the top of the offense in parts to all scores being above the line. Given an 80.0 passing score as well as a 68.1 run blocking score, Heyward was given a 62.0 running score on his one carry for 6 yards. George Pickens saw his score boosted by a 76.0 in the passing game while Zach Gentry had a 75.7 pass blocking score to help his grade. Some might be surprised that Diontae Johnson finished with an average score, where he was boosted was a 75.4 run blocking score which was second on the team to Gunner Olszewski (82.7). Johnson did have a 58.2 passing score which is not surprising. Although it’s no fun to talk about a player who got hurt in the game, it seems Pat Freiermuth was not having the best day according to PFF as he was the lowest score on the offense and had only a 44.3 passing score.

Offensive Line

T Trent Scott: 75.6 (6 snaps)
C Mason Cole: 65.5 (73 snaps)
G James Daniels: 61.1 (73 snaps)
G Kevin Dotson: 58.1 (73 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 55.0 (73 snaps)
OT Chuks Okorafor: 54.7 (73 snaps)

When the extra tackle is your highest PFF score on the offensive line, that could be good for him but bad for everyone else. In all, the Steelers offensive line scores were average. Of the starters, Kevin Dotson had the highest pass blocking score of 72.1 while Dan Moore Jr. was the lowest at 40.3. When it came to run blocking, it was Mason Cole who topped the starters with a 67.8 while Chuks Okorafor was the lowest at 57.0. As much as I’d like to break down the progress one way or the other of the offensive line this season, that will come later when we look at the overall scores for 2022.

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.