On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense was made to look foolish on more than one occasion by Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts with RPO. Hurts is a tremendous athlete and has a firm grasp of how to make the scheme work. The Steelers defense was lost at times.
When the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Kenny Pickett in the first round in 2022, one of the key aspects of his game was his ability to run. No one was going to mistake him for Mike Vick but the film showed him more than capable of beating a team with his legs when needed.
So why has offensive coordinator Matt Canada not worked more RPO concepts into the offense? Honestly, why does Canada do anything he does but specifically, only good can come from utilizing Pickett’s athleticism. The RPO is basically the 2022 version of the triple option. On any given play the quarterback can hand it off, run it or throw it based on the look the defense gives him.
The Steelers have the worst scoring offense in the NFL. The run game is completely stagnant and adding some RPO concepts would fix that. But I want to pass the question off to you. Should the Steelers use this bye week to integrate more RPO concepts into the offense in an attempt to jumpstart the offense? Let us know in the comments below.
