Steelers' Offensive Overhaul Could Have An Unexpected Downside

The Pittsburgh Steelers are finally going to have a different offense in 2026. While many of the faces from the 2025 season are back, the scheme will be completely different under Mike McCarthy. His offensive mind will give the organization a brand new look after years of mediocre offense during the Mike Tomlin regime. That change will be refreshing, even with an old quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. 

While the offense and coaching staff underwent some changes, so did some of the players on the active roster. Most specifically, the team made the wide receiver room deeper by bringing in veteran Michael Pittman Jr. and drafting Germie Bernard. 

With more receivers on the field, there will be more opportunities to try and open the field up away from the quarterback. Whether that puts more defensive backs on the field or puts linebackers on odd matchups in an empty formation, this personnel will be a complete change from what the Steelers did in 2025.

A significant amount of the time, they ran a heavy formation with six linemen. Doing so really helped open up the run game, but the problem with that was Pittsburgh could only run the ball in that formation. Steelers beat writer Christoper Carter broke down that aspect of Pittsburgh's offense from 2025 and how the personnel may cost the team a successful rushing attack.

"A decent chunk of the Steelers’ run game came from their use of jumbo packages that included a sixth offensive lineman," Carter wrote. "Sports Information Solutions charted the Steelers to have rushed for 1,164 yards in formations with five linemen — last in the NFL. They ranked 26th in yards per carry on those plays. When the Steelers trotted out a sixth lineman, they led the NFL with 592 rushing yards in such formations and their 4.5 yards per carry ranked sixth."

Struggling to run the ball away from that heavy, jumbo package is slightly concerning. While the playbook is changing, many of the players are the same on the offensive line. Most of them are changing positions, which could help open that run game back up in non-jumbo formations; however, there are no guarantees that part of their games improve.

"Now that Khan, the Steelers’ general manager, has added pass-catchers Michael Pittman Jr. and Germie Bernard to join DK Metcalf and tight ends Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington, head coach Mike McCarthy’s offense most likely won’t feature as many jumbo packages."

It will be interesting to see what Pittsburgh has in store for the offense as a whole. There needs to be some kind of strategy that allows the unit to gain more yards and put up more points consistently. The run game will be critical.

McCarthy seems like he's going to heavily rely on the pass game more than the run game anyways. He's always been an aggressive play-caller, and with many weapons that he has to work with in Pittsburgh, that trend will likely continue. The run game can of course open up the pass game, but if the Steelers can only find success with running the football in specific formations, it's going to be difficult for them to be a well-rounded offense.

Hopefully, the added depth and talent in the receiver room can help neutralize that loss in the run game, but overall, this unit is going to have to show some improvement running the ball in spread formations. If not, they are going to be predictable for the defense in their play-calling, which could limit the offense from playing up to their best ability. If the Steelers want to win their first playoff game in nearly a decade and get off to a strong start in the McCarthy era, then this aspect has to improve. 

Steelers' Need To Run The Ball Better During 2026 Season

There are a lot of questions to be answered as training camp gets ready to start very soon. This is one of them and it hasn't been talked about enough. With so many changes on the offensive line, the Steelers need to see this area improve. Adding all of these receivers to the offense is exciting on one side of things, but on the other, it really opens up this concern for the offense in 2026.