Yakety YAC: Yards after catch 'a major point of emphasis' for Steelers in 2023

There has been no greater talking point this offseason surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers than the conversation about how to make the offense more explosive.

Coordinator Matt Canada’s 2022 unit was fifth in the NFL when it came to time of possession at 31:18 per game, fifth in most offensive snaps (pass, rush and penalties) at 1,153, and led the league in average plays per drive with 6.5.

But the yards per play of 4.9 put them 27th. The Steelers had only 44 plays of 20 yards or more — tied with the Cleveland Browns for 23rd in the league — with just three plays of 40-plus yards (tied for last with the Arizona Cardinals and Jacksonville Jaguars).

In order to make the Steelers more explosive, a few things need to change.

First of all, it’s the overall mentality. The Steelers have to be less risk-averse and be willing to live with a few more mistakes if the benefit is going to be more big plays. It’s great that Kenny Pickett threw just one interception after Halloween. It would’ve been nice if he had at least one game with two or more touchdowns passes, as well.

Second, it’s a matter of Canada’s play design. The Steelers were 28th in the NFL when it comes to yards per pass attempt at 6.4. In terms of pushing the ball down the field, Pickett’s total completed air yards was 23rd at 1,331.

One area where the Steelers were sorely lacking was yards after the catch. The Steelers were 29th in YAC (1,463) and dead last of the NFL’s 32 teams in yards after the catch per completion (4.0).

“We’ve got to get them in those open spaces,” Canada said of his receivers after the team put up just 10 points during a loss to Miami last year.

Indeed. And that part — the schematics and design element — is at Canada’s feet. He has to construct more complementary routes. His 2023 offense must have more concepts to get receivers open with room to roam after the reception. He needs to draw up more in-breaking patterns where the sideline isn’t acting as another defender — fewer receptions where the receiver is stopped, turned around, facing the QB, with defenders converging behind him from multiple angles.

Especially with George Pickens. The exciting rookie out of Georgia had 801 receiving yards in his first year, just 104 after the catch (211th in the NFL).

“It all starts with balance and getting those guys the ball in space,” Pickett said at the outset of training camp. “All those guys do different things really well. So we need to highlight their skill and get them the football where they can succeed.”

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But the players have a responsibility as well. For instance, Diontae Johnson may want to get out of the habit of running three yards backward before trying to move forward to get an extra yard or two.

And it’s on the quarterbacks. They’ve got to improve at throwing accurate passes in stride to the receivers so they can best use that space Canada is talking about.

“The old cliche is ‘short catch, long run.’ Quarterbacks play an integral part in that,” Steelers quarterback coach Mike Sullivan said last week at training camp. “As a receiver who is running inside, that ball can’t be down low and at the hip. It can’t be down at the shoelaces or up high where he has to jump. If we can hit that receiver in stride, perfect ball location so he can catch it, tuck it and go — that’s what we’re shooting for.”

To those points, Sullivan insists both play design and practice time at Saint Vincent have focused on yielding more YAC once the actual games begin.

“We’ve made a major point of emphasis on that — working it throughout our drills, (and) schematically — doing some things to kind of provide more of those options for our receivers (as) part of our system,” Sullivan said.

Pickett is aware the coaches can only do so much, and eventually, it’s on the execution of the players to turn the concepts into results.

“It’s just spending time with each other. That’s the key. Throwing, knowing timing, how guys run routes, and their body language in and out of breaks. It’s all things that come with time. We’ve been putting that time in,” Pickett said.

The Steelers open up the regular season Sept. 10 against San Francisco at Acrisure Stadium. The 49ers had the best defense in the NFL last year in terms of yards allowed (300.6) and points allowed per game (16.3).

So all that theory of what the Steelers need to do better will be put to an immediate test to begin 2023.

Listen: Tim Benz interviews Steelers quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan for Friday’s Bella Construction “Letters from Camp” podcast