Steelers' Patrick Peterson Can't Name A Leader On The Offense And Bryant McFadden Says That's A Massive Problem

The Pittsburgh Steelers offense has been anything but a thing of beauty in 2023. After putting up 10 points against the Cleveland Browns, the team had seen enough from Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada and handed him his walking papers on Tuesday morning. The unit is a young one with second-year players Kenny Pickett, George Pickens, and Jaylen Warren featuring prominently along with third-year running back Najee Harris. The longest-tenured member of the group on offense is fifth-year receiver, Diontae Johnson. 

Steelers defensive back Patrick Peterson is a respected veteran around the league, but is still relatively new to Pittsburgh. Even though he's still finding his bearings on being a part of the organization, he had quick clear answers when his cousin Bryant McFadden asked him to name leaders on the offensive side of the ball. While breaking down the Steelers' ugly performance against the Browns on the All Things Covered Podcast, McFadden posed Peterson a question about leaders on the team. 

The two-time Super Bowl champion asked Peterson to name the offensive leaders on the team and after a long pause finally offered his response. 

"That's a good question, Mac," Peterson said. 

McFadden quickly interjected with his thoughts on Peterson taking time to think about his reply to the question without coming up with a real answer to it. The pause was a big concern to him. He followed up by asking about defensive leaders to which Peterson quickly rhymed off the names of Cam Heyward, TJ Watt, and Minkah Fitzpatrick. 

"When I first asked Pat Pete the question of who the leaders on the offensive side are, he had to think, and that's the problem," he said. "Hypothetically speaking if you guys are screwing up on the defensive side, there are quite a few guys who will rally the troops together and say, 'Hey, get it in line.' Right?"

Peterson agreed that there are guys on his unit who take on that responsibility. 

McFadden continued to press and asked who that guy is on the offensive side. Peterson said they are still trying to find one. 

"That's the issue too," McFadden said. "If you're telling me you've got to find that guy during the season... that should've already been established before the season starts." 

Peterson took issue with McFadden's comment because he said he feels like with how young the offense is, they still need more instruction on how to lead properly and he said he takes it upon himself to try and do better to give them that example (even if he's on the other side of the ball). Peterson added that he's realizing now in the back-nine of his career how fleeting it is to be able to make an impact in this league and he's trying to stress to his teammates that they're in a position to still do something great if they want to. 

Steelers' McFadden Calls On Pickett To Take That Step Up As A Leader

There was a lot of talk in the 2023 offseason about Pickett taking a step up in his leadership capabilities. McFadden wants to see even more from the young signal-caller as the team enters a critical stretch of the season if they want to keep their postseason dreams alive. 

McFadden said that from his perch as an alumnus observing, the defense plays with what he called "juice," but the offense doesn't. McFadden doesn't care that the unit has a lack of seniority problem, someone needs to take the initiative and lead. His choice would be the quarterback. 

"When you play the quarterback position, that's a leadership position," he said. "You've got to make sure at some point in time to get the guys together. That's what we're missing." 

Pickett, who was named a captain for 2023, needs to be that guy who rallies the troops as he has for the six fourth-quarter comebacks in his career. He alone won't make this offense tick, but as McFadden said, he needs to be the lynchpin to have a bigger sense of accountability throughout the unit.