Is Arthur Smith’s love of heavy personnel groupings beneficial for the Steelers?

The Steelers made news on Thursday when it was reported they had engaged in trade talks with the Miami Dolphins for Pro Bowl tight end Jonnu Smith. Smith had a career year for the Dolphins last season, catching 88 passes for 884 yards and eight touchdowns. He is an eight-year veteran with over 300 catches on his career resume and has played for four teams.

Two of those teams were coached by Steelers’ offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Jonnu Smith played for Arthur Smith when the latter was the coordinator in Tennessee in 2019-2020, and then joined him in Atlanta in 2023, where Arthur Smith was then the head coach. Jonnu Smith is said to be one of Arthur Smith’s favorite players, which could be influencing Pittsburgh’s interest in the tight end.

That interest seems curious given the fact they have two solid tight ends — Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington — already on the roster. And, in the wake of the George Pickens trade, they seem to have a much bigger need at wide receiver. The Steelers have plenty of bodies in their receiver group, but like last year, lack a proven running mate for their feature player (DK Metcalf). Another tight end seems like a luxury by comparison.

Unless, of course, you place a high priority on big personnel groupings in your offense, as Arthur Smith does. Last season, Pittsburgh was 12th in the league with a 12-personnel frequency of 25%. 12-personnel is the use of one running back, two receivers and two tight ends. That percentage was a major drop-off from 2023 in Atlanta, where Arthur Smith’s offense led the league in 12-personnel frequency at 41.5%. Pittsburgh was second in the league in 13-personnel usage last season (one back, one receiver, three tight ends) at 16%, so his combined use of 12 and 13 personnel snaps was not quite as far behind. In Atlanta in 2023, Smith used 12 or 13 personnel on 50% of the team’s snaps, which was the most in the NFL. In Pittsburgh last season, the combined total was 41%.

11-personnel is the NFL’s favorite grouping, with one back, three receivers and one tight end on the field. The league-wide average for 11-personnel use last season was around 63%. Smith used it 51% of the time. That ranked 26th in frequency. So, despite the fact Smith ran less 12 and 13 groupings last season than he did in Atlanta, the Steelers were still near the bottom of the league in 11-personnel usage.

There are two things to examine from those numbers. First, why is Smith so partial to using tight ends? And second, why, given the fact the Steelers were not great at wide receiver, did he decrease his frequency of multiple tight end sets from the year before?

As to his love of tight ends, it starts simply. Smith was a college offensive lineman at North Carolina. He then coached offensive line and tight ends for many years before becoming a coordinator. In short, he has a lineman’s mentality. Whereas fellow play-callers like Kliff Kingsbury, Sean McVay and Kevin O’Connell were quarterbacks as players, and now run wide open, pass-heavy systems that reflect their quarterback training, Smith, in true lineman fashion, wants to populate his offense with big bodies and smash the ball down the throat of his opponent. He likes the versatility that tight ends provide, and the matchup potential they offer. He believes in using tight ends to create extra gaps in the run game, and when defenses employ bigger personnel to fill those gaps, likes to use play-action to exploit their aggression. He’s old-school in that sense — a coach committed to running the football, minimizing risk and controlling the clock.

The problem in Pittsburgh last season is that when they did go big, they weren’t very good. Their EPA out of 12-personnel ranked 13th in the league, while their EPA from 13-personnel was 21st. Meanwhile, from 11-personnel, their EPA ranked 10th. Because of that, Smith used more 11-personnel groupings than he’d done in Atlanta. Given that the results were better from 11-personnel than from the bigger groupings, one would think the Steelers would look to add an established receiver as a running mate for Metcalf. Instead, they may trade for a third tight end. It tells you a lot about Arthur Smith’s mindset. Rather than depart his comfort zone and run more 11-personnel, he’s looking to add a player he believes will allow him to run his preferred offense with better success.

Is that stubbornness on Arthur Smith’s part? Or does he truly believe Jonnu Smith could be the missing piece to unlock his offense? It’s hard to say. One thing I do know is the Steelers should be wary of reuniting with Jonnu Smith simply because he’s a familiar face. Granted, he’s a solid tight end. But Arthur Smith imported two players last season — Van Jefferson and Cordarrelle Patterson — because he coached them in Atlanta and he valued their knowledge of his offense. Neither made much of an impact. Jefferson was miscast as the team’s #2 receiver opposite Pickens and produced just 24 receptions. Patterson was used sporadically at running back, kick returner and receiver, and his contributions were minimal in all three areas. So, while a reunion with Jonnu Smith may seem attractive to Arthur Smith because of their past history, that history shouldn’t supersede whether Jonnu Smith is the player Pittsburgh most needs right now to upgrade its offense.

One thing is clear: if the Steelers do acquire Jonnu Smith, it will be because Smith intends to lean into his roots. Whether that’s a smart move or not remains to be seen.

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