The Pittsburgh Steelers offense seems primed to take a step forward this season after the last few years of slow and predictable play, with a brand new playcaller and overhauled quarterback room headlining the changes, but nothing is guaranteed in the NFL. These new acquisitions look good on paper, but getting them to fit together on the field could be trickier, especially with the Steelers having such a tough-looking schedule. The position this could have the biggest impact on is quarterback, as one analyst lays out all the issues that could result in Justin Fields’ time in Pittsburgh going as poorly as it did in Chicago.
Carmen Vitali is an analyst for Fox Sports, mostly covering the NFC North, and on a recent episode of Dave Dameshek’s podcast, Minus Three, she spoke about how she could see Fields’ first season with the Steelers not going as well as some fans might hope, citing the team’s apparent desire to let Russell Wilson be the starter as the catalyst for multiple issues.
”If this happens where you do end up starting Russ, and he doesn’t do well, and you give him a leash of half a season or so to kind of figure it out, which would be fair, then you’re going to have a team that’s set up to hide this kind of quarterback, which is not what you need for Justin Fields to thrive in. Then you throw him in the back half of that Steelers’ season, which is something unlike I’ve really ever seen before, is an absolute gauntlet, and to see Justin Fields have to go in there and get used to a new team in the system that’s not really created for him, against that kind of competition, I don’t see that going well either.”
Vitali’s correct in her observation that Fields starting during the Steelers’ brutal second half of their season would be like throwing him directly to the wolves, but at that point in the season, it’s not certain that all of those teams will be as formidable as they seem to be in the middle of summer. Just as well, if Fields truly can be the quarterback of the future, then he’ll have to be able to lead the team through difficult stretches like that. In the AFC North, there are no easy games.
However, Vitali also seems to believe that Fields could struggle due to the Steelers’ offense being built around Wilson, which maybe could be true in certain aspects, but really shouldn’t be too much of a factor. Fields and Wilson are similar players, with both of them being more mobile passers who do their best work outside of the pocket. Most of Wilson’s strengths are Fields’ strengths as well. Now, that does mean that if Wilson does struggle, Fields will probably encounter some of the same issues, but it won’t be like making Tom Brady play in an offense designed around Lamar Jackson.
Overall, Vitali’s criticisms are mostly valid, but they certainly aren’t going to cause Fields to play poorly, if he does play at all. Injuries will happen as well, so the issues most people believe the Steelers could face right now probably won’t be as pressing once the bullets start flying. Fields and Wilson seem to be comfortable competing as well, with Fields expressing how useful it’s been to learn from Wilson. As Mike Tomlin likes to say, though, there are two dogs and only one bone. Only one of them can be the Steelers’ starter, and hopefully, whoever that is can be effective.
