When the Pittsburgh Steelers traded for Justin Fields, speculation began to swirl amongst the fanbase that he could push Russell Wilson for the starting role. Head coach Mike Tomlin quickly put those rumors on ice, saying Wilson is in “pole position” to be the starter in 2024. That sentiment was recently echoed by Arthur Smith following mini camp, making some think that Fields might not be getting a fair shot at the job.
According to Mark Kaboly of The Athletic, there have been flashes of great play that suggests he could eventually develop into a starting option.
In a recent interview on 93.7 The Fan, Kaboly talked about Fields, hinting that he’s had an up-and-down spring.
“I mean, extremely athletic, extremely quick out of the pocket,” said Kaboly when describing Fields. “He could make some crazy throws where you’re like, wow, that’s, that’s impressive… Then it’s all of a sudden you see one he overshoots it by 30 yards or under throws it, you’re like, what’s going on here?”
One of Fields’ biggest knocks since coming into the league has been his accuracy. Despite improving on his completion percentage each season of his career, Fields still sits near the bottom of the league. At 61.4% last season, Fields sits 42nd among 50 qualifying quarterbacks. In comparison, Wilson ranked 15th with a percentage of 66.4.
Despite this, Kaboly still sounds bullish on Fields’ chances of potentially developing into a franchise quarterback.
“It’s just gonna take time to coach him up and get him more comfortable with the mechanics of the whole thing,” said Kaboly. “That’s what this off season’s for. That’s what this training camp’s for. That’s what this preseason’s for, is to see if he can switch things around, be more consistent. Then he could easily be the franchise quarterback here.”
While it has been reported that the Steelers and Wilson have already had conversations about working out a potential long-term deal after the season, Fields is also due for a contract next offseason.
With Wilson turning 36 in November, it begs the question of if the team should be going all-in on the former Super Bowl champion. Instead, perhaps the team should put their trust in Fields who, as Kaboly said, could become a franchise quarterback with more refinement.
After declining his fifth-year option, Pittsburgh could still offer an extension to Fields before the season, but it seems unlikely. Instead, the team is more likely to let the season play out before offering any type of deal.
Hopefully Fields can flash more consistency in Latrobe, pushing him to be the Steelers franchise guy for the future.
