When Ben Roethlisberger was winding down his career and the Pittsburgh Steelers started to think about what they wanted their next franchise quarterback to look like, head coach Mike Tomlin said on multiple occasions that mobility is key. The evolving nature of the quarterback position and offensive systems around the league has made the ability to extend plays and escape the pocket a highly desirable trait. Kenny Pickett had some of those abilities but never quite gained the confidence to use them to their full extent. The Steelers now have Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, who excel in that area.
Former Steelers OL and current color analyst Craig Wolfley joined the Irish Steelers Podcast via Apple podcasts to talk about the team ahead of training camp and had some great things to say about Wilson’s level of effort and the energy he brings every day at practice.
“Russ is such a great leader from the front,” Wolfley said. “He’s a lot of fun to watch because of his interactions with players. Players feed off his energy. Players feed off the fact that he’s 35 years old, and it’s like, ‘boom, boom, boom, let’s go.’ And then one of the things I loved during OTAs, he skedaddled up the sidelines, right? He’s just going 50, 60 yards and young bucks were in hot pursuit.
“But here’s the key: they weren’t closing in on him. And I’m going, that’s a pretty old man running up the sidelines. You got young bucks in hot pursuit and trail, and they ain’t getting that man. So I love the fact that he’s still mobile.”
Wolfley’s anecdote from spring practices shows that he still has top-end athleticism to outrun defenders. But to me, it also shows his level of effort and energy. It is 100 percent all the time.
Wilson spoke about his fresh start in Pittsburgh after one of the spring practices and said he has found the fountain of youth in Pittsburgh.
“I feel revived in every way. Mentally, emotionally, spiritually,” Wilson said in an interview clip posted by ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.
Wilson has also provided further evidence of this all-in mentality. While many players took a short vacation after minicamp, he was seen boxing, running sprints, and throwing to former and current teammates. Not every 35-year-old veteran goes that hard in the offseason.
He also has the pressure of having an athletic and highly capable quarterback behind him in the depth chart in Justin Fields. That competition, however real (or not) it might be, pushes a guy like Wilson to give his absolute best. After all, he only has $1.21 million invested in him by the Steelers.
As for Wilson’s on-field scrambling abilities, Wolfley rattled off a great stat in this interview. Wilson tucked the ball and ran 38 times for a first down with the Denver Broncos last season. Kenny Pickett, for however athletic he is, only managed 12 first downs that way. Keep in mind that Pickett is nearly a decade younger than Wilson.
Russell Wilson gained 341 yards on 80 attempts (4.3 average) for a 55-percent run-success rate. Pickett had 54 yards on 42 attempts (1.3 average) for a 38.1-percent run-success rate. Can you imagine if the Steelers had an additional 26 first downs last year and what that could have meant for the offense? The Steelers only averaged 17.2 first downs per game. That is an additional game and a half of extra first downs from Wilson’s scrambling abilities alone.
It makes the opposing defense respect pass-rush lanes more and gives them one extra thing to worry about. A well-timed third-down scramble can be the difference between a punt and putting points on the board. This is yet another aspect that the Steelers’ offense stands to gain with Russell Wilson under center in 2024.
