The Pittsburgh Steelers saw more than 15 years of success due to the abilities of Ben Roethlisberger, but since he’s been gone, they have struggled mightily to find his replacement. Kenny Pickett didn’t work out, and neither did Mason Rudolph or Mitch Trubisky, so they were forced to start over this offseason. Their solution, at least for this season, was to sign Russell Wilson, an older player, but one with experience and a gigantic chip on his shoulder. However, they also acquired Justin Fields, a young player who had a lot of promise before spending some miserable years with the Chicago Bears. One former general manager believes that the Steelers should be putting more faith in Fields than Wilson, though.
Mike Tannenbaum served in multiple front office roles throughout his career, most notably as the New York Jets’ general manager from 2006 to 2012. Now, he serves as an analyst with ESPN, and on the most recent edition of NFL Live, he spoke about how he believes the Steelers should seriously be hoping that Fields can tap into his endless well of potential.
”One thing they should be hoping for is Justin Fields. It’s rare, he’s 25 years old, and he’s already started 40 games, and physically, he really reminds me of Ryan Tannehill, who had two unbelievably productive seasons for the Tennessee Titans under Arthur Smith, who’s now the offensive coordinator for the Steelers. Give Russell Wilson all the credit in the world, he had all that guaranteed money and he’s still out there competing, but because of the age, they may hit really big on Justin Fields. If they hit big, they’re gonna hit big for another decade.”
Tannenbaum has been saying how much he believes in the Steelers this year, and it seems that could be contingent on how much they let Fields play. While it seemed early on that Wilson would be the starter no matter what, it appears there may be a quarterback competition in training camp. Even if Fields doesn’t win, he could still see time as the starter this year, and as Tannenbaum says, that could be the best outcome for the Steelers,
Wilson could come in and light up the world, but even so, he’ll turn 36 this year, and that’s getting a little too close to 40 to say he can continue to be productive year after year. Fields is both young and experienced, but he’s still raw in some aspects of his game. For example, he struggles to trust what he’s seeing on the field and tends to scramble a little too early. However, if he’s allowed to sit behind Wilson to begin the season, then perhaps he can learn to put most of these bad habits behind him.
That would be the outcome in a perfect world, but in the real world, and especially in the NFL, things are never perfect. Fields also isn’t under contract next year, so if he does have a productive year, then the Steelers will be in quite a bind on how much to pay him. There will be issues any way the season breaks down, so really, the best outcome for the Steelers is to compete for a Super Bowl this year. Whether that’s with Wilson or Fields, then 2024 can be labeled a success.
