Can Russell Wilson silence doubters as the Steelers’ starting quarterback versus the Lions?
The Steelers have faced questions about who their starting quarterback would be long before they signed Russell Wilson. Indeed, pundits actively debated the subject last year before the season even ended. Of course, at the time, many expected a battle between Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph.
Now Pickett is vying for the backup job in Philadelphia and Rudolph is doing the same in Tennessee. The Steelers now have Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, but locally, everybody has always maintained that it’s Russell Wilson all the way.
While the national talking heads have continued to beat the Justin Fields drum, Russell Wilson remains in “pole position”. He will start today’s game ahead of Fields, but the question is, will he finally silence the doubters?
A former Super Bowl champion, Russell Wilson is now damaged goods, indeed expired goods, in the eyes of most. He has a losing record in each of his past three seasons across two teams and three head coaches. As you may have heard, the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season, so something has to give.
The fact that Wilson injured his calf at the start of training camp certainly didn’t help quiet the peanut gallery. They have loved to weigh in on a weekly, nay, daily basis on the national sports shows, basically always talking more about Fields and how he’s good or bad versus actually talking about Wilson.
Wilson’s calf injury greatly limited his work over the first few weeks of training camp. He played five drives in the second preseason game, but the offensive line made it rough sledding. Unless that unit gives the quarterbacks more time, I don’t see this going well.
The biggest reason for optimism is the Steelers will actually game plan for the Lions, simulating a true NFL work week. This should better represent how they will look in-season, so theoretically this should be Russell Wilson’s best chance to show that he deserves to be the starter. He will start regardless, but at least if he looks the part, maybe there will be less pressure from the outside.
The Steelers’ 2024 season is approaching, following another disappointing year that culminated in a first-round playoff loss. The only change-up in the annual formula lately is whether they exit early or miss the playoffs altogether. They have had a long offseason since the Buffalo Bills stamped them out of their misery back in January.
The biggest question hanging over the team is the quarterback question. Does Russell Wilson make them a Super Bowl-caliber team, or are they wasting a year? How will the team continue to address the depth chart?
The Steelers are in training camp and the preseason and the 2024 season is coming into focus. They made numerous moves through signings and trade—and release. More than usual, they seemed comfortable creating holes, confident they can fill them. Some they managed to fill, others not so much. Now that we have so many pieces of the puzzle, however, we merely have a new set of questions to ask.
