Heyward, Freiermuth lead the Steelers offensive PFF grades

Dec 6, 2022 - 1:15 PM

NFL: <a href= — Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Steelers got back-to-back wins for the first time this season with both victories on the road. The offense scored on five of their seven drives although they only were able to finish one with a touchdown. As for the defense, they were vulnerable against the run in the second half against one of the NFL’s best rushing attacks.

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 13 performance. Remember, these are just the grades for the Steelers for this past game and not combined with their previous performances. 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 (except for Cam Sutton who only played in victory formation) and the total snap counts for each player will be included. For reference sake, the Steelers played 65 snaps on offense in Sunday’s game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

TE Connor Heyward: 91.6 (14 snaps)
TE Pat Freiermuth: 91.1 (36 snaps)
RB Najee Harris: 86.6 (43 snaps)
RB Benny Snell Jr.: 80.4 (9 snaps)
QB Kenny Pickett: 70.1 (65 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

G James Daniels: 57.5 (65 snaps)
WR Gunner Olszewski: 55.7 (18 snaps)
WR George Pickens: 54.5 (44 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 53.7 (65 snaps)
WR Steven Sims: 45.7 (25 snaps)

Quarterback

QB Kenny Pickett: 70.1 (65 snaps)

While some might see this as a huge drop off from Pickett’s score last week, the perspective is that it’s his second-best score of his NFL career. Not getting the boost in run score this week as he had only a 60.2, Pickett’s 72.5 passing score is second this season only to last week’s. For me, this score fits very well with what I saw as I thought last week was a little inflated.

Running Backs

RB Najee Harris: 86.6 (43 snaps)
RB Benny Snell Jr.: 80.4 (9 snaps)
RB Jaylen Warren: 67.5 (13 snaps)
FB Derek Watt: 63.6 (7 snaps)

There were many weeks this season where Najee Harris’ score of 86.6 would have landed him at the top of the offense, and even in other weeks where there were higher scores he would have been no less than second. This week, coming in third is not so bad as Harris had his best score of the season by far, and his top score of his career. His 81.7 running score was only topped by last year‘s performance in the home finale against the Browns with an 82.7 rushing score. Snell followed up last week‘s performance with an almost identical score which saw him slightly lower in the run game with a 74.6 but increased scores in pass blocking of 73.0 and in the passing game of 79.0. Even Jaylen Warren and Derek Watt brought in scores above the line as the running backs looked solid across the board.

Receivers

TE Connor Heyward: 91.6 (14 snaps)
TE Pat Freiermuth: 91.1 (36 snaps)
WR Diontae Johnson: 66.8 (53 snaps)
TE Zach Gentry: 60.9 (48 snaps)
WR Miles Boykin: 60.0 (8 snaps)
WR Gunner Olszewski: 55.7 (18 snaps)
WR George Pickens: 54.5 (44 snaps)
WR Steven Sims: 45.7 (25 snaps)

Even though it seems like I mention Pat Freiermuth being at the top every week, this score tops anything he’s ever had in his two years in the NFL. Still, it was just behind Connor Heyward who caught his first touchdown of the season. To put the scores in perspective, they were the top two overall scores for tight ends across the NFL in Week 13. Unfortunately, things fell off a bit when it came to the rest of the position group. PFF only credited one drop in the game but it went to Diontae Johnson who was the next highest score of the receivers. George Pickens was frustrated with only having two targets with one reception for 2 yards, but PFF simply didn’t have him winning his matchup on receiving plays as his 52.0 receiving score was his lowest since the bye week.

Offensive Line

G Kevin Dotson: 68.7 (65 snaps)
C Mason Cole: 62.4 (65 snaps)
OT Chuks Okorafor: 62.1 (64 snaps)
OT Trent Scott: 59.0 (7 snaps)
G James Daniels: 57.5 (65 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 53.7 (65 snaps)

I thought the offensive line as a unit had one of their best games of the season, but the individual PFF scores did not reflect it in this way. Kevin Dotson topped the list but did not land in the top five. I can’t figure out why his overall grade was a 68.7 when he had a 76.0 pass blocking score and a 71.0 run blocking score. I guess his false start penalty cost him significantly. James Daniels had scores in back-to-back weeks that were below the line, but nothing about his play stood out to me in a bad way. Dan Moore had a very unbalanced score as he had a 72.0 pass blocking score but only a 49.2 run blocking score. Overall, I’m not too sure about things this week.

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.

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