"Blind Spot": Steelers' Arthur Smith Had Clear Issue In 2025 That Affected Pittsburgh's Offense

The Pittsburgh Steelers are now forced into asking themselves all kinds of tough questions due to Mike Tomlin stepping down as head coach. There were numerous issues that plagued the team recently. The only consistent part of it in recent years was having decent seasons that ended in a blowout in the playoffs. Pittsburgh's charismatic leader is no longer there to try and hide all these problems, so now it is time to face the music. It won't get better if everyone keeps pretending nothing is wrong. 

That also goes with Arthur Smith's flawed offensive game plans. There were a few different problems with it, but insider Brian Batko dove into one of those issues in particular, regarding who the play-caller liked and who he seemed to stay away from in the offense.

"As for Arthur Smith, his blind spot was Jonnu Smith," Batko said. "It really felt like Arthur kept thinking — or hoping — Jonnu was eventually going to have a breakout game and be the type of difference-maker he was [in 2024] with the Dolphins, or at least early in his career with Arthur in Tennessee. That never happened, and the stubbornness on that front came at the expense of Pat Freiermuth in a lot of ways."

Smith had a lot of trust in tight end Jonnu Smith, as those two had been together on two other NFL teams. On top of that, the tight end was coming off of a career year, where he had almost 900 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. When the Steelers traded for him, the idea was that he would build off of that campaign with an offensive mind that knew him very well, but that did not work at all. 

In 2025, Jonnu Smith played 52% of offensive snaps for the Steelers. He had under 300 all-purpose yards and just three touchdowns on 47 touches, despite the team trying to force-feed him the ball. There were quite a lot of offensive plays designed for him specifically, but very few worked, and it raised a lot of questions about potential nepotism with Arthur Smith seemingly ignoring a much better option at tight end.

Pat Freiermuth has developed a reputation for being a great red zone option and big-play threat in the middle of the field. Despite that, he had fewer snaps than Jonnu Smith and the same number of targets with 54. He did more with his targets, as he had 41 receptions for 486 yards and four touchdowns. However, 111 of those yards and two of those touchdowns came in one game, and he barely did anything outside of that contest. 

Freiermuth was not shy about the fact that he was not being used enough in the offense. Outside of one game, it seemed like Arthur Smith repeatedly phased him out of the offensive game plan, even though he had better numbers than Jonnu Smith. He had two showing where he did not get a single target and a couple other contests where he was almost ignored until an attempt at a comeback drive occurred. It was definitely a baffling decision to not look his way more often. 

Steelers Most Likely Will Not Have Same Problem In 2026 Season

Since all the Steelers' coaches are free to look elsewhere for the 2026 campaign, the odds are that Arthur Smith will not return. If that's the case, then it is also very likely that Jonnu Smith could get cut to save $7 million against the cap. Whoever the new head coach and/or offensive coordinator is, he needs to make sure to feed Freiermuth as much as he can, as the former second-round pick can be a great weapon when used properly.

What do you think about Arthur Smith focusing too much on Jonnu Smith while not paying enough attention to Freiermuth? Let us know in the comments below or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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