Pittsburgh Steelers fans are hoping new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith can bring some excitement to the Steel City. While his tenure as lead man of the Atlanta Falcons didn't go according to plan, Smith did find success as an offensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans. Back in 2020, Tennessee had the No. 3 offense and No. 4 scoring offense under his leadership.
With Smith being a former tight ends coach, Pat Freiermuth is optimistic about what his role in this new offense will look like.
"It's very exciting," Freiermuth said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "With Arthur here, there's a lot of stuff for the tight ends, situations where you want to make those plays.
"I'm excited for that. I'm ready to roll."
Under Smith, Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts became just the second rookie tight end in NFL history to cross 1,000 receiving yards, and the first rookie tight end to make the Pro Bowl in almost two decades. Since he was drafted No. 4 overall in 2021, Pitts ranks seventh in the NFL in receiving yards among tight ends with 2,049, while Freiermuth, who was drafted by Pittsburgh that same year, ranks 15th with 1,537 receiving yards.
Smith also found success using Atlanta's TE2 in Jonnu Smith, who caught 50 passes for a career-high 582 yards and three touchdowns last season. Pitts and Smith both finished in the top 15 in receiving yards among tight ends, and top 18 in targets in 2023. No other NFL team had two tight ends rank that high in either statistical category.
The Steelers had the eighth-worst offense in the league last year (304.3 yards of total offense per game) and tied in having the fifth-worst scoring offense (17.9 points per game). Smith was brought in to change that.