Everyone seems to want to pit the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Russell Wilson and Justin Fields against each other. Two starting quarterbacks, they are nominally competing for the job, yet nobody seems to buy it. Wilson will start, and Fields will be back up, and we’re supposed to be happy or mad about it. But maybe it’s all part of a larger picture aimed toward the good? That’s how Emmanuel Acho sees it.
“In any league, in any sport, … you always want to bring in competition”, he said on ESPN’s SPEAK program. “It’s not just like, ‘Okay, well this guy’s good, let’s not have anybody else’. No, you want to bring in the best. … In the NFL, they’re constantly trying to replace people, right? Whether I was with the Cardinals, the Bears, no matter what player, what league, you want to bring in competition because it rises all tides”.
Acho suggests this applies directly to the Steelers’ situation with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. He did say he believes that Wilson gives them a better chance to win, but they both make plays. It’s unclear how legitimate the “competition” will be from a results perspective, but they can still push each other.
“That’s the great thing about the NFL. You don’t bring in Justin Fields because you don’t think Russell Wilson’s gonna be successful”, Acho said. “You bring in Justin Fields because you think, ‘Man, this guy could be our quarterback maybe for now, but also for the future. And oh, by the way, if Russell Wilson doesn’t work out, at least we have somebody who we believe in as well’. It’s not about one or the other. It’s both those guys making each other great. That’s what sports is. That’s competition”.
We know many are skeptical about the competitive nature of the Steelers’ quarterback competitions, though. Few even credit their competition of 2022 as a competition at all. If it was one, it certainly wasn’t an “open” one. And Mike Tomlin has already said Wilson is in “pole position”, so this one with Fields isn’t “open”, either.
But that doesn’t mean the door isn’t open for Justin Fields to push his way into the conversation. Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph didn’t do that back in 2022. They didn’t clearly separate themselves as the better option. And if Fields can’t do that this year, then yes, Russell Wilson is going to start.
That arrangement can still benefit both of them. Granted, Fields won’t find sufficient in-season reps as the backup, but he and Wilson can push each other. And he will learn by watching how Wilson goes about his business as a proven veteran.
That is very likely what attracted the Steelers to Fields in the first place in this arrangement. They still thought Pickett would compete with or back up Wilson by the time they made that trade. However, Fields is a future consideration unless he makes himself an immediate one.
Of course, Fields wants to play and start, and he will do whatever he can to get there. But he is also taking what he can working with Wilson. He has already called Wilson a great mentor. I’m not sure how much Fields can teach Wilson, but if there is a two-way street, then all the better.
