The Pittsburgh Steelers made a franchise-altering decision, for better or for worse, when they signed Russell Wilson right before the start of free agency. It was on a one-year deal for the veteran minimum contract because the Denver Broncos are picking up the rest of the tab for 2024. Though there may be the intention on both sides to work out a longer-term deal after the season, that is obviously predicated on having success, so the Steelers spent a ton of draft capital to ensure he has the highest possible chance at being successful.
Daniel Jeremiah appeared on Path to the Draft on NFL Network and was asked which QB in the NFL received the most help in the 2024 NFL Draft. His answer was Russell Wilson.
“I’m gonna actually go to a veteran quarterback who got the most help. So when you look at what you were able to accomplish in this particular draft, I’ll go to Russell Wilson,” Jeremiah said in a clip of the segment posted on NFL.com. “Just when you look at what they surrounded him with. Let’s start here with first, you get three offensive linemen…then oh, by the way Russ, let’s get you Roman Wilson, a player who reminded me a lot of Jayden Reed.
“So I think he had to be very, very excited about this nucleus that they’re forming around him.”
All you have to do is go through Wilson’s Twitter feed from the draft to see how excited he was.
Wilson is currently in fifth place for the most sacked quarterbacks of all time. The only active player ahead of him is Aaron Rodgers, and just four sacks separate the two. With 527 career sacks against him, Wilson has a solid shot at passing Ben Roethlisberger’s 554 this season to have the third-most sacks against him.
But that is where the offensive line help comes in. He gets two immediate starters who should be upgrades over last season with Troy Fautanu at offensive tackle and Zach Frazier at center. He also gets additional depth to make sure there is a solid replacement in case of injury in OG Mason McCormick.
Over the last three seasons, Fautanu has allowed just three sacks, and Frazier has allowed just four. Last year’s first-round pick, OT Broderick Jones, will also have one additional year of experience. It might take the unit some time to gel, and it isn’t going to be perfect at first, but it has a chance to be the best line that Wilson has ever worked with.
Then there is Roman Wilson, who was drafted at No. 84 overall in the third round. He is used to playing in a run-heavy offense at Michigan and should be well-suited to do the same in Pittsburgh. Jeremiah compared Wilson to Green Bay Packers WR Jayden Reed. He probably won’t have quite the gaudy production that Reed did as a rookie, but it is a major win if he can come even close. Reed caught 64 passes for 793 yards and eight touchdowns and carried the ball 11 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns. That type of production from WR2 in the Steelers’ system this year would mean things went very, very well.
