Will the Steelers develop an offensive package for Justin Fields?
It’s a subject we’ve been talking about on and off since the Steelers traded for him. Russell Wilson is the presumed starter, but Justin Fields has enticing assets you don’t want rotting on the bench. So how do you utilize Fields’ talents, particularly his sheer speed, within the framework of the offense?
It starts by gaining the buy-in for it, and we got that from both Wilson and Fields this week. Wilson more or less gave his endorsement for the idea of using Fields in select packages. Fields himself also said that he is open to his skill set being utilized in such a fashion.
That’s a big step, and I’m sure there are no skill players who are opposed to it, either. After all, the Steelers ran Wildcat packages for Jalen Samuels several years ago, so they’d better be amenable to this. They actually did a bit of that with Joshua Dobbs as well not so long ago, so why not Fields?
The fourth-year quarterback has 2,220 rushing yards in 40 career games played. During the 2022 season, Fields rushed for 1,143 yards with eight touchdowns. Even last year, he rushed for 657 yards on 124 carries, averaging more than 50 rushing yards per game.
At the same time, he has a lot of fumbles. Now, those fumble stats you see out there also include things like botched handoffs, which are frequently not the quarterback’s fault. That’s important to note. As a runner, he only has eight career fumbles, many of them out of bounds. There are few fumbles of the conventional variety you might imagine, of Fields running down the field loosely carrying the ball and a defender knocking it out.
But the question is, will the Steelers install such a package for Fields? Is that what Arthur Smith wants to do? Does that fit his offensive personality? And whether it does or doesn’t, will Mike Tomlin want him doing it? My instincts are telling me yes, but we’ll see.
The Steelers’ 2023 season has been put out of its misery, ending as so many have before in recent years: a disappointing, blowout playoff loss. The only change-up lately is when they miss the playoffs altogether. But with the Buffalo Bills stamping them out in the Wildcard Round, they have another long offseason ahead.
The biggest question hanging over the team is the quarterback question. Does Russell Wilson make them a Super Bowl-caliber team, or are they wasting a year? Will he play just one season in Pittsburgh before moving on, or the Steelers moving on from him? How will the team address the depth chart?
The Steelers are past free agency and the draft and their roster for the 2024 season is coming into focus. They made numerous moves through signings and trade—and release. More than usual, they seemed comfortable creating holes, confident they can fill them. Now that we have so many pieces of the puzzle, however, we merely have a new set of questions to ask.
