He finds himself as a candidate for the head coaching job with the Tennessee Titans, but it seems likely that Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith remains with the Black and Gold for his third season calling plays under head coach Mike Tomlin.
If he does stick in Pittsburgh for another year, there’s one player that former NFL GM Ran Carthon wants to see the Steelers reunite Smith with.
That would be Atlanta Falcons running Tyler Allgeier.
Appearing on the “With The First Pick” podcast with CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson, Carthon made the case for Allgeier finding his way to either the Steelers — or elsewhere — to reunite with Smith.
“If I was Tyler Allgeier, I’d be looking to go somewhere else and I’d be looking to find out where Arthur Smith is gonna be,” Carthon said of Allgeier, according to video via CBS Sports on YouTube. “‘Cause he was an Arthur Smith favorite . He had a thousand yards rushing when Arthur Smith was the head coach there.
“So if Arthur Smith stays in Pittsburgh, I’d be making my way to Pittsburgh to be the guy there if I was Tyler Allgeier.”
Under Smith’s coaching during his tenure in Altanta as the head coach, Allgeier had the best seasons of his career. He rushed for 1,035 yards in 2022, scoring three touchdowns that season while averaging nearly 5.0 yards per carry. That season, Allgeier split time with Cordarrelle Patterson under Smith’s guidance.
Since then though, Allgeier has had to play behind Bijan Robinson, and put up a career-low 514 rushing yards this season, though he did find the end zone a career-high 8 times.
Now, he’s set to hit free agency and it would bode well for him to move on and find a larger role away from the shadow of the All-Pro in Robinson. While it would make sense for Allgeier to try and find his way back to Smith’s offense and play-calling, that simply doesn’t make sense to do so in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers already extended Jaylen Warren prior to the start of the 2025 season and then saw him rush for nearly 1,000 yards on the season. Kenneth Gainwell is a pending free agent, but he’s coming off of a Team MVP season with the Steelers and it seems unlikely that the Steelers would actually let him hit free agency.
Then there’s rookie third-round running back Kaleb Johnson, who had a tough first season in the NFL, seeing just 29 touches on offense. Based on how the depth chart looks currently for the Steelers, it doesn’t make much sense for the Black and Gold to add another running back to the room, especially a guy like Allgeier that should get a nice contract on the open market.
But, if Gainwell hits free agency and signs elsewhere, that could open the door for a guy like Allgeier in Pittsburgh, even if he’s not much of a pass catcher out of the backfield.