Under the bright lights at Acrisure Stadium Saturday night against the Buffalo Bills, veteran quarterback Russell Wilson will make his first appearance as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, starting the game against the familiar foe in the Steelers’ second preseason game of the year.
Though it is just a preseason matchup, it is a much-anticipated one, with Wilson getting the start and seeing his first extended action with the Steelers. Throughout much of training camp, Wilson was limited due to a calf injury suffered during the conditioning test. This injury led to him missing the first few practices of camp entirely and then being limited until, most recently, missing the first preseason game in the process.
In his absence, quarterback Justin Fields took a number of QB1 reps and generated some buzz, leading to plenty of debates in recent weeks and days about who the Steelers’ starting quarterback should be.
For Russell Wilson, he needs a strong performance against the Bills to quiet the noise. In his debut, I am looking for three things from him that he needs to have a strong showing in.
1. Intermediate passing
Throughout his Hall of Fame-caliber career, Wilson has been known for an elite-level deep ball, known as his “moon ball.” Even at the age of 35 years old, Wilson still throws an outstanding deep ball. He showed that off time and time again during training camp in Latrobe.
That part of his game will be an easy fit in new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s scheme. However, the concern with Wilson fitting into Smith’s scheme is the intermediate passing, particularly in the middle of the field. Wilson doesn’t utilize the middle of the field all that much, targeting that area of the field just 5.8% of the time since 2019, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Nate Tice.
The 5.8% ranks dead last in the NFL. It doesn’t work in Smith’s offense that way, so Wilson will need to target that area of the field more and get better at. That starts Saturday against the Bills. Wilson needs to utilize play-action, work the middle of the field, and show that he still has that in his toolbox.
It can’t just be all “go big or go home” with Wilson like it was in Denver, where he was either throwing it 20+ yards down the field or checking it down. There has to be a balance, and in Smith’s scheme, that is built in. Russell Wilson needs to show it.
2. Mobility
Coming off the calf injury, concerns about Wilson’s mobility at this point in his career are heightened. Leading up to the game against the Bills, Wilson stated earlier in the week that he’s feeling ahead of schedule and isn’t going to play with fear regarding the previous calf injury.
Naturally, that means he’ll move around a bit, show off that ability to extend plays, and take shots down the field, right? Hopefully. What we cannot see is Wilson handing it off a bunch, getting a feel for the game again, and making quick throws to stay out of harm’s way.
Smith needs to utilize bootlegs to get Wilson on the move to alleviate some of those mobility concerns. He doesn’t have to be the Russell Wilson of his glory years, but he needs to show he can still move around a bit.
3. Internal clock and pocket awareness
One of Russell Wilson’s biggest knocks throughout his career has been his tendency to hold onto the football for a long time in search of making plays. Sometimes, he hits big by holding onto the football and taking advantage of a broken play. He has shown the ability to still do that in recent years, but behind a rebuilt offensive line in Pittsburgh that struggled in the preseason opener against the Houston Texans from a pass protection standpoint, Wilson needs to show an internal clock and not take those killer sacks.
The sacks were a major issue last season in Denver, which reportedly drove Broncos’ head coach Sean Payton crazy. Wilson had an average time to throw of 3.07 last season in Denver, taking 45 sacks. In his career, Wilson has an average time to throw of 3.00 and has been sacked 527 times.
In his first game action of the summer, Wilson needs to have that internal clock and not hold the ball forever, searching for the big plays every time. He needs to play within the system when it calls for it, taking what’s there and avoiding putting his offensive linemen in bad spots.
That all comes down to processing and decision-making. Let’s see how sharp Wilson is there after having limited action for much of training camp.
