With rookie minicamp now behind us, the focus shifts to the start of the first Organized Team Activities session May 23-25 for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Though the players are already back at the facility on the South Side putting in work in the weight room as part of voluntary workouts, things won’t really start to heat up until that first three-day OTAs session as football truly comes back.
When the new-look Steelers hit the practice field at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side in late May, all eyes will be on new quarterback Russell Wilson.
For The Athletic’s Mike Jones, Wilson is the player to watch during OTAs for the Steelers.
“The Steelers scrapped the Kenny Pickett experiment after just two seasons and acquired Wilson, believing the former Super Bowl champion can turn them into contenders in the division and beyond,” Jones writes for The Athletic. “The Seattle Seahawks and then Denver Broncos both moved on from Wilson after deciding his best days were behind him. Can Wilson redeem himself in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers are installing a new offense and have just invested heavily in their offensive line?
“Or will Wilson’s run as QB1 for Mike Tomlin be short-lived, opening the door for Justin Fields’ own redemption quest?”
The Steelers never thought they were going to land Wilson in free agency, even though they were showing clear interest. But things worked out as the veteran quarterback and future Hall of Famer accepted a one-year, $1.21 million deal from the Steelers, putting him in the Black and Gold in what he assumed would be a competition with Pickett.
Then, Pickett got upset and demanded a trade, which the Steelers happily obliged, allowing them to pivot and acquire Fields in a trade from the Chicago Bears, reshaping their quarterback room. While there is plenty of excitement for Fields, all the attention is on Wilson, who is on his third NFL stop, which might be his last, too.
Though it’s going to be very difficult to read into Wilson whatsoever in OTAs, which are essentially football in shorts with helmets on, it will be good to see him in the Black and Gold with his No. 3 jersey on, working with his teammates and getting comfortable in offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s scheme.
Wilson has already hit the ground running from a leadership standpoint with the Steelers. Asserting himself as the face of a young offense, he has taken it upon himself to reach out to new players who joined the team via free agency and the NFL Draft, becoming that initial point of contact to welcome them not only to the Steelers, but to the NFL as well.
He’s had a bad rap since his time in Seattle ended as former teammates like Richard Sherman and K.J. Wright came out criticizing him for his attitude and antics, and for the way that former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll treated him differently compared to others. But since his time in Denver and now early in Pittsburgh, the questions and concerns about his me-first attitude and Team 3 stuff all seem to be rather quiet.
It’s all about football for Wilson and proving he can still be a winning quarterback in the NFL. He’s going to get a great shot at that with Pittsburgh under head coach Mike Tomlin.
