This offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers completely overhauled their quarterback room, bringing in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields to compete for the starting job. While Wilson has the inside track to starting come Week One, that isn’t guaranteed as training camp and preseason could change that.
Both Wilson and Fields started for their respective teams last season, making the quarterback competition even more intriguing this summer. Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports wrote that the Wilson v. Fields quarterback battle is something he is really looking forward to watching and following this preseason.
“Those two veterans will now duke it out throughout training camp and the preseason to determine who’ll be the team’s starter in Week 1,” wrote Sullivan. “Wilson is a former Super Bowl champion but had fallen on hard times in recent seasons, with his tenure with the Broncos being largely underwhelming. Meanwhile, Fields was ousted from Chicago after the Bears secured the No. 1 overall pick, which they used to grab Caleb Williams. Given his age, Fields has the better long-term upside. If he outright wins the job, it will be interesting to see if Wilson would stick around as the backup or possibly part ways with the organization to seek out a starting job elsewhere.”
While both Wilson and Fields are veterans, it would be disingenuous not to mention the age difference. Wilson is 35, while Fields is only 25. With both players on only one-year deals, there is limited time for each of them to make their case to receive a new contract in Pittsburgh next year, which makes winning the job this preseason even more important for both Wilson and Fields.
Additionally, both Wilson and Fields were viewed as failures by their previous teams and will be looking to prove that they were just bad fits or in a bad situation and that their previous tenures were not indicative of their long-term outlook for their careers. After receiving a mega-contract from the Denver Broncos, Wilson was never able to play up to that level and was eventually benched and released. Fields, on the other hand, was drafted by the Chicago Bears to replace QB Mitchell Trubisky. While he was able to show flashes, he was not consistent enough as the Bears were constantly near the bottom of the standings, leading the Bears to want to go in a different direction at quarterback.
Now, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields have a chance to prove their previous teams wrong, but to get that chance, they have to win the starting job. That’s what makes this battle in preseason so intriguing. Both Wilson and Fields have shown they are starting caliber, but who will play better? With Wilson having the inside track, Fields will likely have to play much better than Wilson through training camp and preseason, but it may be possible if this is truly an open competition. Given that both Wilson and Fields are on one year deals, it would make sense for this to truly be an open competition, but we will have to see if that is the case come training camp.
While Wilson looks to be the starter come Week One, we won’t know for certain until after the preseason. With a talent like Fields waiting in the backup role, waiting to pounce and determined to start, the preseason should be very interesting as both Wilson and Fields stake their claims to being QB1.
