The Chicago Bears are currently the favorite to hold the top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft due to them holding the Carolina Panthers’ first-round pick and Carolina sitting at 1-10. With a lot of quarterback talent, including Caleb Williams and Drake Maye, up for grabs, there’s a debate about whether the Bears should give up on former first-round pick Justin Fields. Former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky doesn’t think they should, writing on Twitter he still sees a “play maker” in Fields, even if he has some flaws. He then listed nine teams he thinks Fields would be an upgrade at quarterback over their current options, and he put the Steelers on the list.
A lot of those teams are obvious, but Pittsburgh is a little bit more of a curious inclusion. While Kenny Pickett has really struggled for the majority of this season, even if he looks on the verge of turning things around after a nice Week 12, Fields’ play style isn’t necessary suitable for the Steelers. He has seven fumbles already this year after fumbling 16 times last year, and the Steelers have been so predicated on not turning the ball over, even when it comes at the expense of taking a shot downfield. He’s also thrown six interceptions this season and has struggled with accuracy at times.
Then there’s the question of whether if Fields is really that much of an upgrade as a passer at quarterback. He’s obviously much better with his legs than Pickett, but there’s nothing he’s really shown to prove he’s better with his arm. I just don’t necessarily think the Steelers are a better team with Fields at quarterback, or if he would be really much of an upgrade, at least enough to justify putting him on the list. It feels like splitting hairs a little bit.
I’m not a huge Pickett defender, and I think we really need to see more out of him. But I think he’s closer to the same tier of quarterback as Fields, and I’m just not sure I agree that he’s immediately the better option as a starter. I do think it’s interesting to look at and think about, and maybe with Fields the Steelers offense would operate differently but given the lack of creativity from former OC Matt Canada, it might just be more of the same.
At the end of the day, the Steelers aren’t moving on from Pickett after this season, and if they do for whatever reason, they’re certainly not going after Fields, who’s already in his third season in the league. Pickett has a big opportunity over the next few weeks under Mike Sullivan and Eddie Faulkner at offensive coordinator to prove that he wasn’t the problem with this offense early in the season — that it was Canada — by stringing some good games together.
He was good against the Bengals in Week 12, throwing for 278 yards, and if he can carry over a performance like that over his next few weeks, then I think Pickett will be looked at in a better light and may not even find himself on a list like this.
