It’s not very often you see an NFL team completely scrap its quarterback room in one offseason. Yet that’s exactly what the Pittsburgh Steelers did in 2024. They cut Mitch Trubisky, they didn’t re-sign Mason Rudolph, and they traded Kenny Pickett. They signed Russell Wilson, traded for Justin Fields, and then filled out the room by signing Kyle Allen and John Rhys Plumlee.
That leaves the Steelers with Wilson and Fields competing for the starting job. Just how much of a competition it will be is up for debate, but it’s hard to imagine the Steelers not giving Fields any sort of a chance to prove himself.
The bigger question is just how big of an improvement this collection of quarterbacks will be over last year’s. Are Steelers fans simply pinning their hopes for 2024 on just that, hope?
“They don’t have a quarterback right now,” former NFL GM Doug Whaley said on Wednesday’s episode of the Fan Morning Show on 93.7 The Fan. “They’re hoping Russell Wilson can find the fountain of youth. They’re hoping Justin Fields can revert, not back, but revert to a productive, starting winning-type quarterback that doesn’t turn the ball over, doesn’t get sacks, and can get a better record than 10-28.”
We’re all familiar with the old saying, “If you have two quarterbacks, you have none.” That’s part of what Whaley’s getting at, but it’s not the entirety of it. Wilson has proven himself to be a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, but he’ll be turning 36 during the upcoming season, and the last two years in Denver weren’t kind to him. So Wilson and the Steelers are hoping that he can be productive in 2024.
Then there’s Fields. He has the pedigree and athleticism of a first-round draft pick, but the success was never there in Chicago. Whether that’s on the construction of the Bears, Fields himself, or a combination of both, we don’t know at the moment.
We can be sure that even the 2023 version of Wilson was better than the quarterback play on display in Pittsburgh for the majority of 2023. And Fields brings a dynamism that the Steelers lacked as well. I don’t think Whaley is saying that the Steelers downgraded at the position; it’s simply that there’s plenty of uncertainty.
The hope is that one (or both) of these quarterbacks proves themselves capable of running offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s offense at a high enough level to get the Steelers back to winning playoff games. And it’s Arthur Smith whom Whaley thinks is perfect for this situation in Pittsburgh.
“When you don’t have a quarterback, the best way to consistently compete is play good defense, run the ball, and don’t turn it over,” said Whaley, also a former Steelers front office executive. “That’s exactly what Smith will be doing on the offensive side of the ball in Pittsburgh, running and protecting the ball.”
Now don’t mistake that as meaning the Steelers won’t attempt to score points. Schematically, Smith’s offenses have been more aggressive than former offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s were in Pittsburgh. The Steelers will utilize play-action more, target the tight ends more, and push the ball more downfield. They’re just going to build everything off the run game and try to take those shots as smartly as possible.
But everything at quarterback is based upon hope. And if the hopes aren’t met, the Steelers will still be looking for a solution heading into the 2025 offseason.
