Pittsburgh’s offense was a dud in 2025, a short-passing operation that vanished against good defenses. The two PFSN analysts grading the offseason agree the Steelers fixed part of that. They just disagree on when the fix actually pays off.
On the PFSN Football Debate Club, host Cam Mellor asked Nick Farabaugh and Jacob Infante whether the additions of Rico Dowdle, Michael Pittman Jr. and others did enough to make this offense worth getting excited about. Both said the floor moved. Neither was ready to call it a finished product.
Did the Steelers Do Enough to Fix the Offense?
Infante gave it a qualified yes and pointed first to the draft. “I’m going to say slightly yes. I think that I’m a big fan of Germie Bernard, that draft pick in the second round,” he said. “He just screams high-level complimentary weapon with the route tree he brings to the table, the shiftiness he brings, reliable hands. I think he’s going to be a really good long-term weapon for them.”
His bigger point was about the backfield. “You mentioned Rico Dowdle. I think that he and Jaylen Warren, that’s an upgrade at running back over what they had last year,” Infante said. The numbers support him. Pittsburgh let Kenneth Gainwell walk to Tampa Bay and replaced him with Dowdle, who has cleared 1,000 rushing yards in back-to-back seasons with the Cowboys and Panthers.
The receiver overhaul was the headline work. The Steelers traded a 2026 sixth-round pick for Pittman and a seventh-rounder, then signed him to a three-year, $59 million extension to pair with DK Metcalf. Pittman caught 80 passes for 784 yards and a career-high seven touchdowns in 2025, and he immediately answers a glaring need. Pittsburgh’s second-leading wideout last season managed just 372 yards.
“That offense still has its flaws, but I’m a believer in the moves that they made to try and elevate its floor in 2026,” Infante said. That phrase, elevate its floor, is the honest ceiling on the optimism. This is a higher-floor group, not a higher-ceiling one.
Why 2027 Is the Year to Watch
Farabaugh pushed the excitement down the road. “I’m not sure they should be excited this year, but I think they should be excited for the future,” he said. He sees the building blocks falling into place rather than a finished offense ready to contend in January.
One subtraction he flagged matters as much as the additions. With Jonnu Smith gone, the tight end room reverts to Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington, the two mainstays who lost snaps to Smith a year ago. Freiermuth managed just 41 catches for 486 yards in 2025, his lowest full-season totals, and Washington has since earned a new extension to stay. “Just elevating Darnell Washington and Pat Freiermuth without Jonnu Smith in the picture is going to make that tight end room more efficient,” Farabaugh said.
He sees the running back tandem the same way, as a setup for what’s next. “Rico Dowdle’s a different hard-nosed runner that can really hit it between the tackles. Jaylen Warren’s going to be used more in space, one of the premier tackle breakers in football,” Farabaugh said. Add a fresh offensive identity under McCarthy, and the pieces read like a foundation, not a peak.
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Mellor sided with that timeline, agreeing the additions move the floor now but that 2027 is the year the offense should truly arrive, likely alongside a new quarterback. That is the quiet thread running through every answer. The Steelers built something better this year. They built it for next year.
