Ever since Mike Tomlin gave Russell Wilson “pole position” in the quarterback competition with Justin Fields, things have been trending pretty strongly toward Wilson being the starter. There have even been reports that the majority of the QB1 snaps at offseason training activities over the last few weeks gone to Wilson. It remains pretty likely that he will be the starter for Week 1 and beyond, but NFL insider Jason La Canfora isn’t totally convinced.
“I think Justin Fields is gonna show, and maybe show pretty quickly, that there’s just a level of more dynamic high notes that he can hit with that offense, and the dual threat, I just think is gonna carry the day, especially the way they built the thing up on defense,” La Canfora said on his In The Huddle podcast. “Just look where Russ is at this stage of his career, and he’s throwing a lot of check downs. He’s not airing it out like he used to. It’s like late-stage Ben Roethlisberger.
“Everybody will tell you, ‘Russ, Russ, Russ, Russ’ [when] you talk to people who cover the team…I’m not told [that], and I in the past have been a big Russ guy. They’ve been looking at Justin Fields for a long time, and maybe it starts out as a two-headed monster, but I think that’s a team that needs to win time of possession.”
A little bit of a counterpoint is being presented by La Canfora here, and the crux of his argument boils down to Wilson not being the player he once was. The Steelers have been in quarterback purgatory dating back to at least 2021 when Roethlisberger was clearly a shell of his former self. That continued into the Kenny Pickett era with poor quarterback play, and La Canfora thinks choosing Wilson in this QB competition will unnecessarily extend the state of QB purgatory in Pittsburgh.
Whether it was the offensive system in Denver, the decline of his play, or a combination of both, the data supports some of La Canfora’s claims. In his 10 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, his adjusted net yards per passing attempt averaged out to a flat 7.00, and his two-year stint with the Broncos was 5.78. They were his two worst seasons for that stat and 2023 saw the lowest yards per completion of his career at 10.3.
But even Wilson’s worst years would be Fields’ best. His career ANY/A is 4.77. What Fields does bring is a different dimension to the offense. If it is already going to be a run-first philosophy, is it worth steering into that with Fields and his 2,220 career rushing yards? It would be fun to watch, but how effective can an offense be that isn’t very successful passing the football in this day and age?
With the receiving talent in Pittsburgh and the lack of a true possession receiver who can consistently move the chains—a la Diontae Johnson—it might come down to play-action passing and trying to win deep with some of the various speedster wide receivers on the roster like Calvin Austin III, Quez Watkins, or Scotty Miller. If that ends up being the case, perhaps Fields could be the better option. For what it’s worth, Steelers insider Mark Kaboly came away impressed with Wilson’s arm talent at OTAs and said he still looked like the Seattle Seahawks version of Wilson at practice.
La Canfora conceded that it might be a “two-headed monster” at the position to start the season, but he seems to hold the belief that Fields will rise to the top if given the opportunity.
