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Could Steelers RPO Offense Make a Comeback With Kenny Pickett?

The Pittsburgh Steelers have parts of their playbook that could be opened.

Derrick Bell

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Largely over the first five weeks of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers offense has been a group searching for answers. Despite scoring just three points in their last matchup against the Buffalo Bills, there were some encouraging signs on film that will hopefully carry over into future weeks. 

The one recent tweak that I felt like was most interesting was their RPO (run-pass option) passing game finally making an appearance after being nonexistent through the first portion of the 2022 campaign. 

Over the past two seasons, Pittsburgh joined the RPO revolution sweeping the league as Ben Roethlisberger ranked fourth in usage in 2020 while ranking 11th in usage in 2021 according to Sports Info Solutions. However, the first month of this season was a totally different story. 

Entering Week 5, the Steelers had thrown a grand total of five total passes on such plays. Only five teams league-wide amassed fewer attempts.

They employed a returning offensive coordinator and a better supporting cast so it begs the question, what warranted the shift? This is just speculation but perhaps it was Mitch Trubisky that was uncomfortable in this facet of the offense, throwing just two passes on RPOs in his first four games as the starting quarterback. Since Kenny Pickett took over, the Steelers have already implemented this portion of their offense back into the gameplan. 

Conflict RPO

The first example came on their very first drive against the Bills on Sunday. On first down, the Steelers came out in 12 personnel with the Bills operating out of a light box, with just six defenders near the line of scrimmage. 

As Claypool motions to the left side, Buffalo's nickel corner Taron Johnson travels with him. You can see Johnson shading to the inside with his eyes back toward the quarterback.

Pickett correctly identifies him as the conflict defender meaning it's his job as the quarterback to control the seventh defender, in this case the slot cornerback. Johnson's in conflict because if this ball is handed to Najee Harris, it's his responsibility to come down and fill the B Gap but he still has a coverage responsibility as well. 

When the ball is faked to Najee Harris, Johnson comes shuffling down toward the box to play the run.

Pickett is reading the defender's movements the entire way and correctly makes the right decision to pull the ball back and flip it out to Claypool who just runs a quick stop route. After the catch, Claypool quickly turns upfield and lowers his shoulder, running through the safety and dragging a couple of defenders for a first down. 

Because the second-level defender is in conflict, the quarterback can ensure that the defender is always going to be wrong regardless of his decision to play the run or the pass.

Access RPO

Another example of how the Steelers incorporated the RPO passing game into their offense came in the first drive of the second half. 

They're once again in 12 personnel but with Freiermuth aligning in the slot with Diontae Johnson as the isolated backside receiver in a 3x1 set. The Bills defensive front is a little different this time around as they have seven box defenders with the Steelers having just six blockers to account for those players.

You notice that right before the snap, the Bills outside cornerback, Dane Jackson begins to bail out at the line of scrimmage and ends up a full five yards off by the time the ball is snapped. Pickett recognizes that and flips the ball out to Johnson who runs a quick out route for a gain of six yards. 

The underneath linebacker has no shot of getting out to the flat and undercutting the throw and the corner can't successfully drive on it either. 

This is what is referred to as an access RPO, meaning the quarterback isn't reading a conflict second-level defender. He's identifying a free space on the field to access, hence the name. This is just a way for offenses and quarterbacks to take advantage of what the defense is giving them and discourages the defense from just sitting in soft, off-coverage all game, particularly on the backside of formations. 

How Can The Steelers Expand Their RPO Package? 

If the Steelers want to find a tutorial on how to operate a more expansive, diverse RPO playbook, just ask Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. 

The Bills destroyed the Steelers on Sunday with their RPO plays, via both the air and the ground. They turned to one of my personal favorite variations, Glance, in the red zone in the second quarter of last week's matchup. 

Directly following a huge run by Devin Singletary on an RPO run the play prior, Dorsey went right back to it on first down. They come out in 11 personnel with Stefon Diggs as the backside receiver in a 3x1 operating out of a condensed or "nasty" split. Pre-snap, Josh Allen correctly identifies Tre Norwood as the Steelers' seventh box defender. 

As he fakes the run, Norwood comes screaming down to the line of scrimmage to cover his run responsibilities. This leaves a huge void at the second level and creates a nice window for Allen to throw into. 

Cam Sutton is shading outside before the snap and is responsible for Diggs in man coverage. With Diggs running a glance route to the inside, Sutton is already fighting a losing battle before the play even begins due to leverage. Minkah Fitzpatrick is shading to the trips side as the post defender but due to the quick nature of the play, he's left helpless to drive on this football. 

All Allen has to do is put the throw on Diggs' body as he shields Sutton to make the touchdown catch.

Buffalo even got one of their many explosive plays on an RPO pass to Diggs on a quick slant. By aligning Diggs in the slot against Arthur Maulet, Buffalo feels like they've schemed up an obvious mismatch at the line of scrimmage. As one of the best route runners in the league, it's really not surprising to anyone that Diggs wins inside quickly. 

Allen is reading inside linebacker Devin Bush as the conflict defender and as Bush opts to play the run, there is another void at the second level for Allen to throw into. From there, Diggs does the rest and it turns into a footrace between him and the only defender left in the deep part of the secondary, Fitzpatrick. 

Thanks to design and yards after the catch, his is a seven-yard throw that turns into a massive 41-yard gain. 

One of the things that I would like to see implemented from Matt Canada moving forward is more of these glance tags to their RPO plays. The biggest reason for this is that the receivers are moving toward the end zone when they catch the ball, allowing for an easier transition upfield and in turn, more yards after the catch. 

Canada loves to use curls or stops in these situations, which isn't completely useless, but it does limit yards after the catch in a way. These are either stationary routes where receivers are coming to a halt or working back to the quarterback and away from the end zone.

As you can see in the above example to Diggs, receivers moving forward at the catch point can even occasionally result in an explosive play, something that the Steelers offense is sorely missing. 

While no one would put him on the same level as Diggs, Diontae Johnson is a similar route runner who can separate quickly. Claypool is a big body who's an underrated ball carrier, fast enough to run away from defenders and strong enough to run through them. 

The Steelers have the necessary pieces for this to work. 

While it can't be the primary driving force behind an offense, the Steelers left meat on the bone by neglecting this portion of their playbook. The RPO passing game can hopefully add another element to the Steelers' offense moving forward, even if it's just adding another threat for defenses to account for. 

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Derrick Bell
DERRICK BELL

Derrick Bell is a University of Louisville grad who's covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2019. Prior to AllSteelers, Derrick contributed to Steel City Blitz. 

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