The Pittsburgh Steelers have been in the middle of an offensive line rebuild for years now, but they are finally nearing completion with just a couple pieces left to add to solidify the future of the group. Many think the Steelers will address the offensive line in the first round, and it is entirely possible their top two picks are a center and tackle in no particular order. As it turns out, they are going to need offensive line help more than ever, because the Steelers top two quarterbacks like to take their time in the pocket.
According to numbers by TruMedia, Justin Fields had the slowest average time to throw (3.12 seconds) last season among qualifying quarterbacks, and Russell Wilson was the second-slowest (2.99 seconds). This measures the number of seconds from the snapping of the ball to either a throw or a sack. Naturally, the mobile quarterbacks are going to have slower times to throw, but of the mobile quarterbacks in the NFL, Fields and Wilson are still the slowest of the bunch.
The chart below shows a descending list from slowest to fastest average time to throw. To keep the chart from being too long, I took out several of the names, but I left in several notable quarterbacks for comparison’s sake. I also left in all three 2023 Steelers QBs, as well as Desmond Ridder of the Falcons to loosely compare to Arthur Smith’s offensive system in Atlanta.
I left in the rank on the left side, so you can still see how many quarterbacks were removed from the chart. To be able to include Mason Rudolph, I set the minimum pass attempts to 70.
| Rank | Player | Time To Throw (sec) | Sacks Taken | Games Played |
| 1 | Justin Fields | 3.12 | 44 | 13 |
| 2 | Russell Wilson | 2.99 | 45 | 15 |
| 3 | Jalen Hurts | 2.95 | 36 | 17 |
| 4 | Deshaun Watson | 2.94 | 17 | 6 |
| 6 | C.J. Stroud | 2.89 | 38 | 15 |
| 7 | Patrick Mahomes | 2.84 | 27 | 16 |
| 9 | Lamar Jackson | 2.84 | 37 | 16 |
| 15 | Josh Allen | 2.76 | 24 | 17 |
| 22 | Brock Purdy | 2.69 | 28 | 16 |
| 23 | Kirk Cousins | 2.68 | 17 | 8 |
| 28 | Justin Herbert | 2.66 | 29 | 13 |
| 29 | Kenny Pickett | 2.66 | 23 | 12 |
| 30 | Mitchell Trubisky | 2.66 | 7 | 5 |
| 32 | Kyler Murray | 2.65 | 18 | 8 |
| 35 | Jordan Love | 2.65 | 30 | 17 |
| 37 | Dak Prescott | 2.62 | 39 | 17 |
| 39 | Desmond Ridder | 2.6 | 31 | 15 |
| 42 | Jared Goff | 2.56 | 30 | 17 |
| 43 | Matthew Stafford | 2.54 | 30 | 15 |
| 45 | Mason Rudolph | 2.49 | 6 | 4 |
| 49 | Trevor Lawrence | 2.4 | 35 | 16 |
| 50 | Joe Burrow | 2.39 | 24 | 10 |
| 52 | Tua Tagovailoa | 2.28 | 29 | 17 |
Unsurprisingly, the quarterbacks who took the most amount of time to throw (and played roughly a full season of games) took the most sacks. Wilson led the league in sacks taken with 45 and Justin Fields was close behind with 44.
Here is another way to look at it in a scatter plot with all relevant quarterbacks enlarged and labeled for visibility.
So the difference between Kenny Pickett (2.66 seconds) and the 2024 QBs is anywhere from a third to a half of a second. That may not seem like much, but considering how many times a quarterback gets hit as they throw the ball, those could turn into sacks with an extra 0.33 or 0.46 seconds. Football is a game of inches and milliseconds, so that difference is pretty substantial.
Last year, Pro Football Focus had the Steelers’ offensive line ranked as the second-worst pass blocking unit in the league with a 45.2 grade. That being said, two of the worst culprits pulling down the grade were Mason Cole (32.4) and Dan Moore Jr. (42.1). The Steelers are actively looking to upgrade both of those positions, and Cole is no longer on the team.
Broderick Jones (47.6) was the next-worst, but was forced to play out of his natural position and was a rookie.
The Steelers took 36 sacks last season. With two mobile quarterbacks leading the group who like to hold onto the ball, that number could go up, furthering the need to solidify the offensive line on day one and day two of the draft.
