Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is garnering interest for head coaching vacancies, but should he? NFL front offices have forgotten more about football than we'll ever know, so they deserve the benefit of the doubt.
The Steelers have slogged their way to finishing in the bottom half of the league in scoring and yardage in consecutive campaigns under Smith's tutelage. Who's seeing this and thinking to themselves that they need him to usher in their franchise's next era of football?
Smith's failure to adapt to the modern ways and stray from his old-school, run-heavy philosophy has been outdated and proven futile. That alone is grounds for rival clubs to steer clear of him. However, the Steelers' utilization (or lack thereof) of tight end Pat Freiermuth may top the list of reasons to stay away.
Pat Freiermuth's regression with the Pittsburgh Steelers is the clearest indictment of Arthur Smith
Alan Saunders of Steelers Now highlighted Freiermuth as a "microcosm" of "many" things that went wrong in Pittsburgh in 2025. The story highlights how Smith preferred to lean on a supremely inferior option, at least according to the numbers: Jonnu Smith.
"But of all of the things that went wrong for the Steelers this season, nothing went worse than the acquisition of tight end Jonnu Smith," Saunders wrote.
It's worth noting that Arthur's infatuation with Jonnu predates their reunion in Pittsburgh. They have a well-chronicled history, which ostensibly factored into the Steelers' decision to trade for the latter this past offseason. Be that as it may, the inability to move off of a personal connection with a better alternative staring you in the face is alarming.
Jonnu and Freiermuth notably each finished with 54 targets in their first year as teammates. With that in mind, let's do a side-by-side comparison of each player's stats.
Jonnu Smith 2025 Stats | Pat Freiermuth 2025 Stats |
|---|---|
38 receptions | 41 receptions |
222 receiving yards | 486 receiving yards |
5.8 yards per catch | 11.9 yards per catch |
2 touchdowns | 4 touchdowns |
10 receiving first downs | 21 receiving first downs |
Freiermuth was much, much more productive than Jonnu as a pass-catcher in the same exact sample size. Yet, for whatever reason, the latter was equally as involved and (ever so slightly) logged a higher offensive snap share rate. Make that make sense.
Moreover, Jonnu is notoriously known as one of the worst blockers at his position, as Saunders highlighted. If the 2024 Pro Bowler isn't contributing as a receiver and is a negative asset in protection, what purpose does he serve? Arthur stubbornly didn't adjust accordingly, keeping Freiermuth in the lesser half of a timeshare.
It's bad enough that Steelers president Art Rooney II couldn't even commit to Arthur and now-former head coach Mike Tomlin's staff sticking around in 2026. Yet, other teams are seemingly choosing to overlook the mounting red flags.