While Russell Wilson is officially the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback, Justin Fields might not be holding a clipboard the entire time. Speaking to reporters following Wednesday’s practice, the Steelers’ final one until Monday, Mike Tomlin said he’s open to creatively using Fields.
The PPG’s Ray Fittipaldo and Trib’s Chris Adamski tweeted snippets from Tomlin including it as a possibility.
It would be an upset if Fields was glued to bench as the Steelers’ No .2 quarterback. Throughout the offseason, Tomlin has praised Fields’ athleticism and given him the freedom to run, even in practice settings where a quarterback scramble is less useful to the period. Pittsburgh has also employed designed quarterback runs in camp and during the preseason, working on read-options and other designed runs.
Those were on display in the preseason finale against the Detroit Lions. Pittsburgh ran three of them with Fields in the game. A split-zone read on third down that Fields kept and converted, a QB sweep/power on the goal line that nearly scored, and a traditional read-option the following play, a walk-in touchdown for RB La’Mical Perine.
Among football’s most dynamic runners, Fields has rushed for 2,220 yards and 14 scores in his first three NFL seasons. That includes a 1,143-yard campaign in 2022 and a league-best 7.1 yards per carry, making for one of the greatest quarterback running seasons in NFL history.
It’s a dynamic Pittsburgh hasn’t had since Kordell Stewart and even that was an era less friendly to athletic quarterbacks than today. Using these packages would force defenses to prepare and game plan against them, spending precious practice time for something that may only see a little or not at all on gameday.
Using Fields in these packages would likely be situational. Short-yardage and goal-line moments when the team needs a conversion or to finish a drive. Fields is also a capable passer, more so than other package quarterbacks like Taysom Hill, and Pittsburgh won’t be shy about using play-action and RPOs with him in the game.
While Tomlin isn’t confirming it’ll be in the Steelers’ playbook, similar to the expectation of Wilson being the starter is the belief Fields will find a way to get onto the field while serving as his backup.
