Steelers football is finally back with Pittsburgh set to kick off its preseason schedule against the Houston Texans tonight at 7:00 p.m. EST against the Houston Texans. It’s been a long-anticipated beginning of the 2024 season as Pittsburgh has done some massive retooling to their roster over the course of the offseason, with the biggest changes occurring at the quarterback position.
Gone are the likes of Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph, who all made up the quarterback room a year ago. In are Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, both former starting quarterbacks looking to redeem themselves with a fresh start in Pittsburgh.
Only one of the two names can begin the regular season as Pittsburgh’s QB1, and for the longest time, Wilson has held the pole position as the leader in the room for that role over Fields. However, an unfortunate calf injury to start training camp kept Wilson sidelined, allowing Fields to get the first-team reps and display the traits that made him a tantalizing prospect coming out of Ohio State, as well as a promising quarterback in Chicago. He has shown off his arm talent and legs so far in camp, completing 73.9 percent of his passes for 637 yards and 15 touchdowns with 2 interceptions through the first 10 practices.
While Tomlin mentioned that Wilson is still in pole position like he did when the team acquired Fields, he said yesterday that there is “very much a competition” at the quarterback spot between Wilson and fields. Tomlin also mentioned on Wednesday that what happens in-stadium during preseason play will be important in determining the competition, giving Fields an opportunity to put the pressure on Wilson right out of the gate.
Tomlin mentioned that Wilson won’t be playing against the Texans, giving Fields a couple of series with the first-team offense. This opportunity can’t go understated for Fields, who has shown improvement through the first few training camp practices and has drawn praise from OC Arthur Smith. Our very own Alex Kozora believes that Fields could possibly sway Pittsburgh’s decision with Wilson as their QB1 if he translates what he’s been doing in practice to strong performances during the preseason games.
We saw how the preseason hype took Kenny Pickett to extreme heights last season, looking like the real deal before crashing back down to Earth once regular season play began. Still, jobs are won in the preseason, and that couldn’t be more true for Pittsburgh’s quarterback battle this year as both Fields and Wilson are coming off disappointing tenures with their former teams. Both want that fresh start with a playoff-caliber team, and Pittsburgh has the pieces on offense and defense to get into the postseason and make a run if either quarterback can step up their game and play to their potential.
We’ve seen what Wilson can do as the captain of the ship during his time in Seattle, but the veteran is now 35-years-old and has his best days presumably behind him. Fields, on the other hand, is still only 25 and brings an element of youth and athleticism to the table that is hard to ignore. He must prove that he can make the routine plays routinely and avoid making costly turnovers, but tonight will be a great opportunity for him to put his stamp on this battle and make it hard for Tomlin to keep him on the bench.
