Over the last few days, NFL insider Dianna Russini of The Athletic has been around the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the one thing she has consistently taken away her time in the Steel City is that there was absolutely a quarterback competition between veteran Russell Wilson and fourth-year quarterback Justin Fields.
Appearing on Scoop City Friday morning, Russini said that she was told by members of the organization that it was a battle “from Day 1” between Wilson and Fields, but that nobody grabbed the job. That led to head coach Mike Tomlin rolling with Wilson to open the season.
“I know you don’t think it is, but I’m just gonna share with you what they told me. This was a competition from Day 1, and the problem that we saw was Justin Fields played well and he took advantage of when Russell Wilson was injured with that calf injury, but he didn’t do enough to win the job,” Russini said, according to audio via the show’s podcast page. “They evaluated these quarterbacks every single day and made it fair from what I was told in terms of, ‘Go get it. Whoever wants this job, go grab it.’ And nobody did.
“So in the end, it winds up going to Russell Wilson, who is the veteran, who’s been through this before, who’s been in the league long enough to manage and handle what he’s being asked to, while Justin Fields is continuing to work on his confidence, right?”
The Steelers can say it was a competition all they want. Maybe it was, to some extent. Of course, Tomlin gave it some lip service during the preseason, stating that it was “very much” a competition between Wilson and Fields. But the Steelers’ actions spoke louder than their words.
In the preseason finale against the Detroit Lions, Wilson played just five snaps, attempting two throws — both to George Pickens — before being removed from the game. That was a sign, especially with the scoring drive to open the game, that Wilson was the Steelers’ starting quarterback.
The fact that it took until Wednesday for Tomlin to announce Wilson as the starter was a bit of a surprise, but now that it’s official, the focus shifts to the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 8 inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Based on Russini’s reporting though, neither quarterback truly did enough to establish themselves and grab the job. Wilson suffered a calf injury the day before the start of training camp during the conditioning test, and Fields assumed QB1 reps early in camp.
While Fields had some impressive moments in training camp, much of it was like his career to date: some intriguing splash and flash but not enough consistency. That played out in the preseason, too, which ultimately forced Tomlin’s hand to go with the known quantity in Wilson.
It makes sense, too, with the Steelers needing that proven, bona fide leader as the Steelers’ offense will need some time to get up to speed early in the season. Not that Fields can’t provide that, but Wilson was brought in for that exactly and gets the first crack.
“I think it’s a work in progress, and they like what they’re seeing from Justin,” Russini said. “That was my other big takeaway from being around the Steelers is this isn’t a clear celebration of, ‘Yeah, Russell’s our guy. He won it.’ This was close.”
It might have ultimately been close overall. Both are similar talents. But neither truly blew the doors off that perceived competition, leading to Wilson being the starter for the Black and Gold moving forward.
