Glimpses of what the Steelers offense can grow to become were shown as the 2022 season progressed.
The Steelers finished the 2022 season averaging 4.9 yards per play, which was 27th in the NFL. As a whole, they also finished 23rd in offensive yards per game and 26th in offensive points per game.
The Steelers need all of those numbers to take a big step forward next season.
However, when just examining EPA, which digs much deeper than the surface stats, the Steelers offenses finished at 14th in the NFL.
And, even more enticing, the Steelers offense was fifth in the league in EPA from Week 9 until the end of the regular season. Only Kansas City, Detroit, San Francisco, and Cincinnati were better.
There is a lot of work that needs to be done, and several areas like creating explosive plays must improve, but this young offense really improved as the 2022 season went along.
Based on these improvements, along with the building that Omar Khan has done over the offseason, there is an expectation that the Steelers' offense that improved can only continue to do so.
Speaking of young, just how young was the Steelers' offense last year?
Historically young.
Football Outsiders recently put out their “Snap Weighted Age” metric. You can find their information here, but Snap Weighted Age is a very simple guide to the age of the team in which you played with in any given year.
What they do is examine every snap and exactly how old every player was on the field and come up with an average.
So, for example, the Steelers had the 16th-oldest defense in 2023 with an average age per snap of 26.4 years old. The league average on defense last year was 26.3 years old.
And, if you break it down by position, the Steelers' defensive linemen came in at 29.8 years old, well over league average. Their edge rushers and off-ball linebackers were a bit younger than average. The defensive backs were also a bit older than NFL average. Thus, when broken down to its simplest form on a per-snap basis, the Steelers' defense was almost exactly league average for age.
The Steelers offense here really is the story. Many of you surely realized that that side of the ball was playing a lot of young players. But, to the degree the Steelers pulled it off might amaze you. When the Steelers snapped the football, on average, the 11 players on the field were only 24.8 years old. That was the youngest in the league and almost half a year younger than Cincinnati, the second youngest offense (which should frighten Steelers fans, by the way) last season. A half of a year in this discussion is a massive gap and league average on the offensive side of the ball was 26.6 years old in 2022.
Since Football Outsiders has been tracking this data, only the 2014 Jaguars offense was younger at 24.7 years old. In fact, the only other offenses that averaged 25 years old or younger were the 2017 Browns and 2021 Lions.
And, how about this: The Steelers were at least an entire year younger than NFL average at every offensive position, although they weren’t the youngest at any specific position.
Do you know what young players often do? They get better. This is especially true at the quarterback position, and there are countless examples of quarterbacks drafted in the first round taking massive steps forward in their second seasons.
Another great example is Pat Freiermuth, who was arguably the Steelers' best player in 2022 in his second season. History shows that tight ends usually hit their peak right around 27 years old. Freiermuth doesn't even turn 25 until October.
The offense will be different this year. Every one of those players that the Steelers brought back will add a year to this equation.
They also signed Isaac Seumalo, who turns 30 at the end of October. They traded for Allen Robinson, who will also turn 30 in August. Both should see plenty of action this upcoming year. Nate Herbig is likely a depth player, but he will be turning 29 during the season.
The Steelers also drafted Broderick Jones, who turned 23 on Tuesday. Happy Birthday to Broderick!
Darnell Washington is only 21 At 24 years old, Connor Heyward could see more snaps in his second season and Calvin Austin, also just 24, will certainly see more snaps in his second season after missing his entire rookie year. The Steelers should still be amongst the youngest offenses in football in 2023.
The goal here of course isn’t necessarily to get young, but to get better and score more points. The Steelers' front office did a miraculous job of building a young offensive nucleus and now infusing it with veterans like Seumalo and Robinson, whose leadership and experience could help guide the youngsters on that side of the ball.
It is a rare situation in the NFL that the Steelers have created, and it should get the fanbase very excited about the potential offensive growth.
But, before you get too excited, realize the Steelers' offense was also the healthiest in the entire league last year -- something that simply will not occur again in back-to-back years.
No one said that this was going to be easy, folks.
