In just a month’s time, the Pittsburgh Steelers will kick off their training camp at Saint Vincent College. Once the pads come on the real position battles heat up, and all eyes will be on the Steelers’ quarterbacks. It has been one of the most talked about storylines of the offseason, and that will intensify in training camp when we get a real look at how Russell Wilson and Justin Fields perform.
Wilson was given “pole position” shortly after the two were acquired, and nothing happened in spring practices to change that dynamic. If anything, Wilson looks more in command of the QB1 spot. He reportedly received a majority of the QB1 reps throughout the spring.
Looking at betting odds for the QB competitions around the league, oddsmakers over at DraftKings do not see any seismic shift taking place for the Steelers in that regard. Jared Dubin of CBS Sports compiled DraftKings’ odds and plugged them into Action Network’s implied odds calculator. Fields is given just an 18-percent chance (+450) at walking out of camp and the preseason as the starter. Wilson is given an 88-percent chance (-750) at defending his pole position and emerging as the Week 1 starter.
As a side note, the odds do not add up to 100 percent as the oddsmakers exist to make money.
Here is what Dubin wrote about the competition odds.
“The Steelers have also been pretty forthright about their expectation that Wilson will start under center. That seems unwise to me given that he is on a one-year deal and will turn 36 years old this season and is therefore definitely not the team’s long-term answer. But the Steelers love nothing more than ensuring that they don’t fall under .500 no matter what instead of shooting for upside, so Wilson probably will indeed start.”
Wilson doesn’t have long-term upside at his age, but there have already been reports of mutual interest in a contract extension following the 2024 season. Based on some of his comments this offseason, Wilson has no intentions of ending his career anytime soon. He spoke about his five-year plan prior to signing with the Steelers and included his desire to win multiple Super Bowls.
Fields has youth on his side, and therefore has greater potential to be the long-term solution, but he has also done nothing to prove that he can be a franchise quarterback. His passing statistics have trended in the right direction in each of his three seasons, but his best season was roughly in line with what Kenny Pickett offered the team as a passer. He will have to show a pretty sizable leap in his capabilities as a passer to be considered in the long run. If Wilson wins the job, he may not have that many opportunities to prove that.
