Winning in the NFL without a young star at quarterback is difficult. Not only is it useful to have such a primetime position locked up on a cheap rookie contract, but it also helps when going up against the firepower of some of the juggernauts in the league like the Kansas City Chiefs. The Pittsburgh Steelers hoped that Kenny Pickett would be their next franchise quarterback, but circumstances this offseason led to his departure. Now, the Steelers are hoping to revitalize the career of Russell Wilson while also potentially preparing Justin Fields to be their long-term starter. One NFL analyst believes this could happen but sees obstacles standing in the way.
Kyle Brandt is a host of the NFL Network’s Good Morning Football and also known as the man who crowns the NFL’s angriest runs. Recently appearing on Mina Kimes’ podcast, Brandt was asked if he believes the Steelers can get anything different out of Fields compared to the player he was with the Chicago Bears. Brandt stated that he’s still holding on to some of his shares of Fields’ stock, but it isn’t very valuable at the moment.
“I got a few. I mean, it’s cheap, it’s really cheap. He’s a burst player. He’ll give you an amazing quarter, or a great half, but usually it ends up losing for the Bears, and it’s a lot of the time his fault,” Brandt said. “There was this amazing civil war between the Fields apologists and the people that were actually saying it’s his fault. The answer was both. The Bears didn’t support him, and he did make a lot of poor plays in big moments. You’ll get something, but I don’t think you’ll get it consistently.”
Brandt’s analysis of Fields’ time with the Bears is about as honest and levelheaded as you’ll see. It’s fair to say the Bears didn’t put him in the best situation to succeed, but it’s also not wrong to say Fields has his faults as a player. Some of the biggest knocks on him are backbreaking mistakes in crucial moments, like the notion that he doesn’t trust what he sees on the field. He’s an incredible athlete, but there are reasons why the Steelers were able to trade next to nothing for him. He still presents an upgrade over every quarterback the Steelers had last year, but he probably won’t be a franchise quarterback immediately.
Luckily, Fields doesn’t have to improve overnight. With Wilson as the probable starter, Fields has an opportunity to sit and try to correct some of his issues. Wilson could be the perfect mentor for Fields to learn from, correcting some of his bad habits and becoming more trustworthy in those big moments. The Steelers should have a solid support system around him on offense, so he won’t be thrown into the fire like he was with the Bears. Arthur Smith’s run-based offense should also help to hide some of his flaws and support his strengths, which should lead to Fields looking better in Pittsburgh compared to Chicago.
Most quarterbacks drafted highly in the first round go to bad situations, and sometimes this can turn a good prospect into a bad player. However, the truly great signal callers are able to bounce back from these early struggles once placed into a spot to succeed. Take one look at Trevor Lawrence, the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback from the same draft class as Fields. Placed into maybe the worst situation ever for a rookie quarterback, Lawrence recovered from some early struggles and has flourished nicely since a regime change in Jacksonville.
Perhaps Fields can see a similar level of improvement with the Steelers, but if he doesn’t, as Brandt says, at least he’ll provide some moments of incredible play. That’s more than can be said for most of the Steelers’ quarterbacks recently.
