With the quarterback competition a lot tighter than imagined when the Pittsburgh Steelers first reported to camp two weeks ago, Justin Fields still has an opportunity to compete for the starting job over Russell Wilson. He was listed as the QB2 on the initial depth chart, but he has been lights out at practice, particularly over the last week or so, and will be given the first-team reps to open Friday’s preseason game with Wilson sitting out.
But in the event that Fields ultimately ends up as the backup behind Wilson, will the Steelers still find ways to get him involved?
“I’m not sure,” Fields said in an interview on the WDVE Morning Show earlier today. “We haven’t really started a game plan. We just been installing the offense, but I wouldn’t be surprised to be honest with you.”
This is counter to some reports we had previously heard about the Steelers already having this package in the playbook. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith also called it “too early” to decide if there would be a package for Fields towards the end of mandatory minicamp back in June. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be one.
The Steelers notably had Kordell Stewart in a slash role back in the late 90s and early 2000s but have generally not been keen on taking the starting quarterback off the field otherwise. There was a short experiment during the Killer B’s era where Le’Veon Bell was taking wildcat snaps, but Ben Roethlisberger didn’t love being taken out of rhythm like that. Not a ton of teams experiment with specialized packages for alternate quarterbacks, but there are a few success stories in recent years. The New Orleans Saints were pretty effective with Taysom Hill, for example.
While Wilson is a mobile quarterback who can scramble for extra yards and escape the pocket to extend passing plays, he is nowhere near the threat that Justin Fields is at this point of their careers. Fields has the second-most rushing yards by a quarterback in league history from back in the 2022 season when he rushed for 1,143 yards. That is a number that Najee Harris has only topped once in his career, for comparison.
Along with Lamar Jackson, Fields is the premiere rushing quarterback in the NFL. His rushing abilities keep defenses honest. They need to respect his ability to scramble and break the pocket, which prevents them from being overaggressive in their pass-rush lanes.
It would be a bit of a consolation prize for Fields if he ends up losing the starting job. But he certainly wouldn’t mind opportunities to see the field during the regular season. He was asked if he would be okay with running specialized packages in this offense.
“I mean, yeah. Better than sitting on the bench,” Fields said.
Fields’ rookie contract will expire following the 2024 season, so this will be his first opportunity to test the open market as a free agent. Anything he can do to get playing time will boost his earning potential, even if it is just a handful of snaps per game in a goal-line package.
A strong performance in that role, paired with his progression throughout training camp, could also lead to the Steelers offering him an extension in hopes of making him the quarterback of the future for the franchise.
