The Pittsburgh Steelers’ final preseason game seemed to confirm that Russell Wilson will begin this season as the team’s starter. It remains to be seen if he’ll be able to hold on to that job. Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III believes that the Steelers made the right call at quarterback, assuming they start Wilson over Justin Fields.
“If you start Justin Fields first, and he goes out and plays bad for five games, his career is over as a starter,” Wilson said Monday while appearing on The Rich Eisen Show. “I think Mike Tomlin understood this. Maybe front facing to the media he’ll say, ‘It’s an open competition,’ because you have to, as a head coach. He knew all along who he wanted his starting quarterback to be, if indeed it is Russell Wilson, and I don’t think there’s a problem there.”
Griffin knows all about what it’s like to be a young quarterback thrust into the role as the savior of franchise, so he understands some of what Fields is going through. Griffin’s career was derailed due to injuries, but part of the reason for his failures was that he was mismanaged by the team now known as the Washington Commanders. If the Steelers start Fields and he falters, they could shatter his confidence.
Allowing Fields to compete with Wilson throughout the preseason helps keep that confidence intact. He also shouldn’t feel like a failure for not being named the starter. Wilson is a Super Bowl champion and simply has more experience than Fields. Those aren’t things Fields can control. He still flashed at times and made the Steelers consider him for the starting job more.
Like Griffin says, it would be difficult to go back to Fields as the starter if Wilson replaced him. Replacing Wilson with Fields is much easier. In that situation, it could be argued that Fields’ incredible athletic ability could provide a spark if the offense is sputtering. Benching Fields for Wilson more than likely just says that Fields isn’t cut out to start.
Starting the season as the backup allows Fields to watch and learn from Wilson too. That kind of knowledge could prove valuable and help him become a better quarterback. Fields may also still see playing time in special packages, so it’s not like he won’t have opportunities.
Griffin’s argument provides a good breakdown of why naming Wilson as the starter is the right decision. While it isn’t official yet, that announcement is likely to come soon. We’ll see if Fields can eventually earn the starting job this season. If he doesn’t, then that still might not be a bad thing. Maybe he could just be the Steelers’ quarterback of the future rather than their quarterback of the present.
