Why?
Because coming to a storied franchise like the Steelers with a number one draft pick marinating behind him is like investing in a company very short-term. How short-term? Well consider the following:
According to SB Nation’s Behind the Steel Curtain Steelers Stat Geek podcast, the Steelers offensive line is improving. Of the five sacks the Steelers have relinquished this year, the Steelers offensive line is credited with allowing zero. Read that again, zero.
The Steelers blocking scheme allowed all runners not named Najee Harris to enjoy a 6.0 yard-per-carry against the Browns.
When Mitch Trubisky uses play-action, he is 15-of-17 for a completion rate of over 85 percent and has a 10+ yards per attempt average. Without it, he’s 47-86 for a 4.5 YPA.
According to profootballreference.com, Trubisky has ten completions on eleven pass attempts in play-action for 112 yards which means he’s averaging over 11 years per completion (they might not yet have added this previous Thursday's stats yet).
Because coming to a storied franchise like the Steelers with a number one draft pick marinating behind him is like investing in a company very short-term. How short-term? Well consider the following:
According to SB Nation’s Behind the Steel Curtain Steelers Stat Geek podcast, the Steelers offensive line is improving. Of the five sacks the Steelers have relinquished this year, the Steelers offensive line is credited with allowing zero. Read that again, zero.
The Steelers blocking scheme allowed all runners not named Najee Harris to enjoy a 6.0 yard-per-carry against the Browns.
When Mitch Trubisky uses play-action, he is 15-of-17 for a completion rate of over 85 percent and has a 10+ yards per attempt average. Without it, he’s 47-86 for a 4.5 YPA.
According to profootballreference.com, Trubisky has ten completions on eleven pass attempts in play-action for 112 yards which means he’s averaging over 11 years per completion (they might not yet have added this previous Thursday's stats yet).
These might be small sample sizes sure, but can you ignore the fact the longer Mitch has to throw the ball, the more accurate he is?
Yet, where is most of the blame going for the Steelers anemic offense? Mitch Trubisky.
Why?
Because the Steelers have a long history of winning and when winning doesn’t come the Steelers’ way, they almost always blame the quarterback. There are others like me, who thought the offensive line was still, well, offensive. However, the numbers don’t lie.
In an age where these kinds of statistics are available, one has to be sickened by the fact it’s clear that Steelers (specifically Matt Canada and his staff) are trying to turn Mitch Trubisky into Ben Roethlisberger rather than looking at how good he can be using his strengths to the tune of a 1-2 start.
It’s becoming clearer that the reason Najee Harris’ runs looks so pedestrian is because he is so, well, pedestrian. He’s uninventive, indecisive and is credited for a missed assignment leading to one of the five sacks on Trubisky. Harris is looking like a bust, regardless if he eclipsed 1,000 yards in his rookie season. Any running back given 300 carries is going to come close to that and Harris had 307 for 1200 rushing yards, second most in the league, with his longest run being twenty-five yards. (The leader was Jonathan Taylor with only 25 more carries yet 600 more yards!). This year, Harris yards -per-attempt has dropped from 3.9 to 3.2, yet all metrics point to having a better offensive line in front of him. I know he’s had a Lisfranc foot injury, and those injuries can nag. But if that’s part of the problem, sit out and get healthy and then show us something!
With Kenny Pickett in the wings, and Matt Canada calling plays for an entirely different offense than the one he has, Mitch Trubisky’s gamble might destroy his career for good. It’s time to point the blame where it belongs: Matt Canada, because there’s no guarantee that even a scrambling, young quarterback like Pickett can thrive in this mundane and dysfunctional offense which any decent analyst could correct for better efficiency.
The Steelers are not 1-2 because of Mitch Trubisky or their offensive line. They’re 1-2 because of the inability of their offensive coordinator to pay attention to who is on his team, analyze their strengths and weaknesses and apply them properly So, how short term of an investment you say? Sadly, Mitch Trubisky has probably got a few more weeks until his career becomes one of permanent backup status.
And he deserves better.
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