OT: The Pittsburgher Thread: 5 and 2 Justin who? Hand the Fields to Wilson

[Empoleon8771]

Yeah I don't think Fields is getting screwed over by his WRs due to drops or pass protection, I think he's just not getting much help from the rest of the team. Namely in these two areas:

1. A few penalties have taken back big chunk gains.
2. Their WRs (after Pickens) are really shitty at getting open.

 

[Peat]

Pickens has had several huge plays called back due to penalties. I think he is playing great and I don't have a problem with how he is being used.

Pickens is seeing less snaps than he did in his rookie season. Hell he got outsnapped by Van Jefferson over the first two games. You really have no problem with that?

 

[T1K]

Pickens is seeing less snaps than he did in his rookie season. Hell he got outsnapped by Van Jefferson over the first two games. You really have no problem with that?

https://x.com/i/web/status/1838668029993042398

 

[UnrealMachine]

Pickens has had several huge plays called back due to penalties. I think he is playing great and I don't have a problem with how he is being used.

People also aren’t giving enough credit to Pickens & Fields (independently) for the DPI’s they’ve drawn so far. That has been 100+ yards of offense on what were also well-thrown passes. I enthusiastically welcome the heave ‘n pray overlords to our offensive game plan!

 

[Peat]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1838668029993042398

So why not throw the guy out there for 91% of the snaps like the Browns do with Cooper? We've got this hugely scary WR that should be distorting how defences act, why not ride him as hard as you can?

I mean, all this stuff about the great things Pickens is doing... that's my point! Why are we happy with having a true top 10 WR talent who's in flying form who only plays 72% of the snaps and isn't in the top 30 for targets? Or in the top 100 for YAC?

 

[xlm34]

https://operations.nfl.com/gameday/...es-are-shaping-the-nfls-passing-game-in-2024/

I thought this was a nice write up on a reason offenses are down in 2024 so far.

 

[T1K]

So why not throw the guy out there for 91% of the snaps like the Browns do with Cooper? We've got this hugely scary WR that should be distorting how defences act, why not ride him as hard as you can?

I mean, all this stuff about the great things Pickens is doing... that's my point! Why are we happy with having a true top 10 WR talent who's in flying form who only plays 72% of the snaps and isn't in the top 30 for targets? Or in the top 100 for YAC?

I’m pretty sure the snap count is mostly from blocking. While I agree Van Jeff isn’t a factor in that regard, I don’t care if Pickens is run blocking. Considering what happened to Tank Dell last year, I’d almost prefer that Pickens isn’t used to block much at all.

He rates well in targets per route run:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1838210296432783751

As for your last two points, it’s a small sample of a low volume passing offense and Pickens has run bad with penalties. I’m not sure what there is to be alarmed about. All of his metrics are good.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1839020812499824880

 

[TooManyHumans]

Pickens is seeing less snaps than he did in his rookie season. Hell he got outsnapped by Van Jefferson over the first two games. You really have no problem with that?

I have a problem with Van Jefferson seeing that many snaps. I don't have a problem with how they have used Pickens. He has been playing really well.

 

[Shockmaster]

Don't Expect Roman Wilson To Dress Sunday, Dulac Says: 'Going To Be A While'

If true, this is utterly moronic.

 

[JTG]

They are basically doing with Wilson what they did with Austin. He could help right now. He's actually a guy who could slot in nicely at #2.

 

[JTG]

Yea I agree with this. Let's give JF a ton of credit here. He came in kind of as an afterthought. Looks like he studied and practiced hard and as if he would be the starter. We've heard no animosity between he and RW. If I remember correctly, JF said Wilson was a guy he tried to model his game after.

You can check my post history. I was very meh on JF with a lean towards him not being a fit for this team. I'm not crowning him yet by any stretch since there's a ton of season yet to be played. As I said, I haven't been this excited about the offensive side of the ball in 15 years.

I'm also wondering if Tomlin has sort of recognized how he is doing without the pressure and that is why he has kept firm on Russ being QB1. Just letting Fields be the #2 and the reduced expectations that come along with it.

 

[pistolpete11]

So why not throw the guy out there for 91% of the snaps like the Browns do with Cooper? We've got this hugely scary WR that should be distorting how defences act, why not ride him as hard as you can?

I mean, all this stuff about the great things Pickens is doing... that's my point! Why are we happy with having a true top 10 WR talent who's in flying form who only plays 72% of the snaps and isn't in the top 30 for targets? Or in the top 100 for YAC?

Even if it's only to use him as a decoy it seems like he should be on the field more. Or, ya know, setup a play action for him?

I dunno. If the Steelers had this dominate running game and the WR was the key to it, OK. But they don't. It's just as mediocre as it was last year and none of their WR are particularly good at blocking.

 

[The Old Master]

So why not throw the guy out there for 91% of the snaps like the Browns do with Cooper? We've got this hugely scary WR that should be distorting how defences act, why not ride him as hard as you can?

I mean, all this stuff about the great things Pickens is doing... that's my point! Why are we happy with having a true top 10 WR talent who's in flying form who only plays 72% of the snaps and isn't in the top 30 for targets? Or in the top 100 for YAC?

he's playing against two guys every play. i like that they are keeping him fresh.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

They are basically doing with Wilson what they did with Austin. He could help right now. He's actually a guy who could slot in nicely at #2.

Sully doesn't play rookies.

 

[TooManyHumans]

I understand we are going to need more from the passing offense than we have gotten so far, and that featuring Pickens is definitely a key to that. I just think things have gone really well so far. I still have a hard time accepting that a Fields led offense has turned the ball over once in three games. Fortunately the games have allowed the Steelers to ease Fields and the rest of the offense into being more explosive. I hope to see more on Sunday.

 

[WickedWrister]

Last I checked, Pickens was playing 100% of snaps in 11 personnel. Smith just has a TE fetish and uses an absurd amount of 12 and 13 personnel compared to the rest of the league.

 

[Coastal Kev]

As good as Fields has played and has also given me hope for the future, I still want to see how Russ would fare in this offense. I also have to believe the organization must feel the same way.

 

[T1K]

As good as Fields has played and has also given me hope for the future, I still want to see how Russ would fare in this offense. I also have to believe the organization must feel the same way.

I’m not so sure they do. It’s almost as if they’ve viewed Russ as an insurance policy this whole time.

I had this thought today — since Russ has a full NTC he can dictate his future. Given how good the defense is, he might view this team as a Super Bowl contender and might prefer to stick around here and “Foles” his way into a Super Bowl as opposed to being the savior for a team like Miami.

 

[Peat]

Even if it's only to use him as a decoy it seems like he should be on the field more. Or, ya know, setup a play action for him?

I dunno. If the Steelers had this dominate running game and the WR was the key to it, OK. But they don't. It's just as mediocre as it was last year and none of their WR are particularly good at blocking.

Exactly. The running game needs all the help it can get and, while I believe Derrick Bell that the problems are personnel and execution rather than scheme when he's pulling clips of this team failing to run with 6 blockers vs a light box, getting Pickens out there as a decoy can still help. Or, since the passing game is doing more work than the running game, maybe pass it more (which means pass it to Pickens more).

Or maybe get him out there in 13 and see what you can set up. Nobody here would be interested to see whether you can could get Pickens on a 1 on 1 with open space to run into when another team has to go heavy to match 3 tight ends?

These are all ways to more out of a guy who, by his peers' standards, is not crazy involved. On an offence that is, by its peers' standards, not crazy good. We'd laugh if a team we were facing pulled this on us.

he's playing against two guys every play. i like that they are keeping him fresh.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk about the need to keep WRs fresh before. I don't think he's playing against two guys every play either.

 

[WickedWrister]

Even if it's only to use him as a decoy it seems like he should be on the field more. Or, ya know, setup a play action for him?

I dunno. If the Steelers had this dominate running game and the WR was the key to it, OK. But they don't. It's just as mediocre as it was last year and none of their WR are particularly good at blocking.

We've ran 75 passing plays and Pickens has run 71 routes, this is just a scheme thing for Smith going back to his Tennessee days. AJ Brown and Corey Davis (who was a fantastic blocker) were in the 70-85% snap range most games during his time as OC. Same thing in ATL with London. I imagine it'll skew higher in negative game scripts.

And honestly, I'm cool with it. Pickens has shown a lack of effort blocking in the run game in the past. Remember the Jaylen Warren "I'd block for him" drama? Against the Colts of all teams. When he's a decoy he takes plays off, which prevents runs from getting to the 3rd level of the defense. If our WR's suck at blocking... Smith's rationale is just to use a TE or CPatt out there instead. As @T1K shared in the tweet, his yards per route run and 25% target share is still pretty healthy for a WR1.

 

[UnrealMachine]

Not going to waste too much bandwidth on what is a nonexistent issue, but I’ll take the “Pickens isn’t #1 enough” discussion over the (now laughable) “is Pickens even a #1 WR, diva/lazy/no-separation” talk from the offseason.

 

[JTG]

Fields coming here honestly was a perfect situation, for the reasons listed above, but he's a Georgia dude on a team with a bunch of Georgia guys. He even spoke about how him knowing these guys makes this all so much easier, especially because they are all on the offensive side of the ball.

With that being said, I think Pickens will knock off a lot of the shit he did with our previous QBs because he actually respects Fields. Pickens was tired of running routes for nothing. I get it. He acted like a 20 year old.

 

[bigdaddyk88]

I’m not so sure they do. It’s almost as if they’ve viewed Russ as an insurance policy this whole time.

I had this thought today — since Russ has a full NTC he can dictate his future. Given how good the defense is, he might view this team as a Super Bowl contender and might prefer to stick around here and “Foles” his way into a Super Bowl as opposed to being the savior for a team like Miami.

Rw has a potential 30 to 50 million reasons to play this season because he wants his last contract

 

[pistolpete11]

We've ran 75 passing plays and Pickens has run 71 routes, this is just a scheme thing for Smith going back to his Tennessee days. AJ Brown and Corey Davis (who was a fantastic blocker) were in the 70-85% snap range most games during his time as OC. Same thing in ATL with London. I imagine it'll skew higher in negative game scripts.

And honestly, I'm cool with it. Pickens has shown a lack of effort blocking in the run game in the past. Remember the Jaylen Warren "I'd block for him" drama? Against the Colts of all teams. When he's a decoy he takes plays off, which prevents runs from getting to the 3rd level of the defense. If our WR's suck at blocking... Smith's rationale is just to use a TE or CPatt out there instead. As @T1K shared in the tweet, his yards per route run and 25% target share is still pretty healthy for a WR1.

We're not talking about just passing plays. We're talking all plays. Having Pickens, basically their only viable WR, on the field makes the other team respect the pass even if they end up running the ball. And if they don't, then you're potentially getting Pickens in a 1-on-1 situation where you can take a shot.

Again, I was one of the few who liked the Smith hire. He has a philosophy that has proven to work in the NFL, so I'm fine giving him some more time to work things out. Through 3 games, though, it needs to be better. I don't know if it's because Harris isn't Henry or it's the young O-line or the WR or TEs suck at blocking, doesn't really matter. Things need to improve. And if they don't, getting your #1 offensive weapon more involved seems like a glaringly obvious solution.

Yes, I remember Pickens not blocking. I also remember Pickens bullying dudes. This is why Tomlin is such an overrated coach. He needs to stop only being buddy-buddy with the players and actually coach them to get the most out of them. Honestly, I think Pickens would respond well to it so long as he still gets his touches. He's got an edge to him. I think he would get off on physically dominating in the run game, too.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

We've ran 75 passing plays and Pickens has run 71 routes, this is just a scheme thing for Smith going back to his Tennessee days. AJ Brown and Corey Davis (who was a fantastic blocker) were in the 70-85% snap range most games during his time as OC. Same thing in ATL with London. I imagine it'll skew higher in negative game scripts.

And honestly, I'm cool with it. Pickens has shown a lack of effort blocking in the run game in the past. Remember the Jaylen Warren "I'd block for him" drama? Against the Colts of all teams. When he's a decoy he takes plays off, which prevents runs from getting to the 3rd level of the defense. If our WR's suck at blocking... Smith's rationale is just to use a TE or CPatt out there instead. As @T1K shared in the tweet, his yards per route run and 25% target share is still pretty healthy for a WR1.

So basically if Pickens is out there, we are announcing "hey, we're gonna throw it"

Seems idiotic, but the fish always rots at the head...