Back in June, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said that a Justin Fields package is not in Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin’s nature. Now, in August, he is saying Tomlin would be stupid not to do it. While he maintains that Russell Wilson is the Steelers’ starter, he is now on the Fields package bandwagon.
“Mike Tomlin has never really believed in taking his starting quarterback out of the game. … He’s not one just to insert special packages into the offense”, Dulac told Rich Eisen on Friday. “But I think with Justin Fields, to me, one, they would be kind of stupid to not do that, and two, Arthur Smith kind of hinted at that yesterday”.
“Maybe on the goal line, maybe a two-point conversion, things like that”, he added. “As Arthur Smith said, [Justin Fields is] dangerous with the football in his hands. And if you feel that way, I can’t imagine they’ll just let him sit on the bench as the backup quarterback”.
Those are some pretty strong words, but is he right? Could he have been right in June and still right now? The Steelers are getting a long, extended look at Fields right now because of Wilson’s calf injury. Dulac did say that he has piqued their curiosity quicker than they anticipated.
Justin Fields, the Chicago Bears’ 2021 first-round pick, has immense talent but an awful starting record. The Steelers ultimately acquired him via trade this offseason, sending just a 2025 conditional sixth-round pick. That would have been considered an absolute steal in March, but Fields’ market sank as the offseason dragged on.
Fields’ 4.44-second 40-yard dash is one of the best times ever run by a quarterback at the NFL Scouting Combine. He has 2,220 career rushing yards with 14 touchdowns, and he is still growing as a complete player.
While he has shown notable progress in the past week, however, perhaps there is still too much growing to do to turn the ship over to him now. But Fields can be an effective weapon for the Steelers if they are willing to use him.
Even Russell Wilson has previously come out in support of a Justin Fields package, which is a good first step. Of course, Wilson knows that if Fields is coming on in a package, that means he isn’t starting. But there’s no reason to think that his comments weren’t genuinely positive rather than self-serving.
Dulac isn’t the only reporter singing a different tune, I should note. Mark Kaboly pretty much declared that the Steelers will not create a package for Justin Fields. Then, once he watched him in training camp, he called Fields unstoppable in certain situations.
It is possible that the Steelers and Tomlin have gone through a similar awakening. Now that they are getting the full Fields experience in game-like practice settings, it’s becoming obvious that he can be an effective asset even from the bench.
