One of the top storylines across the NFL this offseason is the quarterback competition between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Fortunately, that means it gets great national coverage from some of the top NFL insiders. According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, Wilson has been getting most of the looks so far throughout the first two weeks of OTA practices.
“For now, Wilson and Fields will battle for the starting gig, but to find out who has the inside track so far, just look at where the reps at practice are allocated,” Russini wrote in a post via The Athletic on Friday. “That, combined with some conversations with sources in Pittsburgh, indicates Wilson is getting a majority of the work.”
This is no surprise as Wilson was given “pole position” entering OTAs and training camp. Reflecting back to Kenny Pickett’s departure from the team, he reportedly felt misled about the nature of the quarterback competition and requested his way out of town. Fields has done nothing in his career up to this point to have an edge over what Pickett would have had in the competition.
With a new offensive system, the Steelers don’t have a ton of time to try and sort out their starting QB role. Long gone are two-a-days at training camp and extensive practice time for teams. What little time they have needs to be used on getting the offense acclimated to the QB1’s cadence, timing, velocity of passes and many other things.
This tracks with something that NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero said earlier today as well, that the Steelers are putting “everything they have” behind Russell Wilson.
Fields more or less chose to come to Pittsburgh, however, and said he did not come to the team to sit on the bench all year. He is definitely in it to compete for the starting job, and the Steelers have every reason to want to see him in action so they can evaluate his viability for the future. Both players will be unrestricted free agents next March, and Fields is nearly a decade younger than Wilson. If he can be a future franchise guy, they should want to figure that out as soon as possible.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers insider Gerry Dulac has mentioned multiple times this offseason that Fields could be a candidate to receive an extension prior to the season. But his party would have to feel a reason to do that. If they sign an extension now, which wouldn’t be for much money, then he risks winning the job later in the season and being severely underpaid. If he doesn’t sign it now and goes on to start no games, then he could find himself without a job next year.
Russini expanded on Fields’ current role and where she sees it going in 2024.
“With Wilson most likely to start, I expect Fields to have a role in new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s offense,” Russini wrote. “Be ready for some packages designed for Fields, like we once saw Smith draw for QB Marcus Mariota in Tennessee. If Wilson struggles, Fields could find himself behind center in a more permanent role.”
If things continue trending the way they are with Wilson the clear QB1, then the conversation will shift more heavily to these specialized packages for Fields and how much, if any, they should use them.
