Steelers OC Arthur Smith showed he really, really loves using TEs in Week 1

When the Pittsburgh Steelers hired offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, we knew he would be utilizing his tight ends plenty based on his history, but I'm not sure anyone envisioned him using them like he did in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons .

Smith is no stranger to using 12 personnel, which is having two tight ends on the field at the same time. In each of the past five seasons when he was the Tennessee Titans ' offensive coordinator from 2019-20 and then the Falcons head coach from 2021-23, Smith's offenses ranked no lower than 11th in 12 personnel usage.

Smith's offenses in Tennessee ranked fifth and second, respectively, and no offense in the NFL used 12 personnel more than the Falcons under Smith in 2023.

But Smith went even deeper than 12 personnel in Week 1. According to PFF's Nathan Janke , the Steelers used 13 or 14 personnel (three or four tight ends on the field at the same time) on 22 of the 66 total offensive plays the Steelers had, which is the most for any team in the NFL over the past three seasons.

The Steelers ran 13 personnel for 20 of those plays, and 14 personnel for the other two, according to Mark Kaboly . The four tight ends to see snaps were Pat Freiermuth (50), Darnell Washington (37), MyCole Pruitt (40) and Connor Heyward (five).

The Steelers have another tight end on their practice squad in Rodney Williams. The Steelers should call him up for the Week 2 game against the Denver Broncos and run some 15 personnel for kicks and giggles.