Though not yet official, Russell Wilson is expected to be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback. However, that doesn’t mean that the team won’t use Justin Fields in some capacity, and FS1 analyst Craig Carton said on Breakfast Ball this morning that he thinks the Steelers are going to use Wilson and Fields on the field at the same time. Carton believes the Steelers could run 8-12 plays a game with both Wilson and Fields on offense.
“I think what you’re gonna see from the Pittsburgh Steelers this year is about 8 to 12 plays a game where both men are on the field on the same time. I think we can agree on that,” Carton said. “But you have an all-world athlete and football player in Justin Fields.”
Carton thinks that lining Fields up all over the field makes it tough for the opposing defense because they have to consider that Fields could get the ball.
He also believes the Steelers will start Wilson, and part of the reason is because it’s an easier transition to then turn to Fields if Wilson struggles.
“It’s much easier to start with Russell Wilson, he doesn’t play well, and then you go to Justin Fields. That’s an easier transition to make than going from Justin Fields and then asking Russell Wilson to be your quote-unquote savior.”
The Steelers reportedly will have a package of plays for Fields, but it would definitely be a different look if they had Fields and Wilson both on the field at once. But the fact of the matter is, it’s not something that we’ve seen the Steelers do in the preseason, and it doesn’t seem like something that the team has planned on incorporating. More likely, the Steelers will put Fields in place of Wilson and use some of their designed quarterback run plays that they’ve shown, particularly in short-yardage situations.
Given Wilson’s experience and pedigree, I do think it’s better to start him, see what he can do and then turn to Fields, instead of going to Wilson off the bench if Fields struggles. Obviously if Wilson struggles, it’s going to be hard for the Steelers to win, and Wilson starting the season and struggling is the worst-case scenario for Pittsburgh. The team needs to get off to a good start with the difficulty of their schedule down the stretch, and if Wilson struggles, that’s not probably not going to happen.
It’s an interesting possibility to consider the Steelers using both Fields and Wilson at the same time, but it just doesn’t seem likely, especially early in the season. It’s something that they could potentially incorporate during the season, but given that we haven’t seen it out of them yet, it’s not something anyone should expect to see come Week 1, especially not to the degree that Carton believes we will.
