Coming into the 2024 season, there are many questions about Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson.
Despite coming off a strong statistical season in 2023 with the Denver Broncos, throwing for 3,070 yards, 26 touchdowns and just eight interceptions, the Broncos decided to move on, taking on an $85-plus million dead cap hit over two seasons to be done with the veteran quarterback.
After being cut, Wilson landed with the Steelers on a one-year, $1.21 million contract, largely a prove-it deal for the nine-time Pro Bowler.
Now that he’s in Pittsburgh, the style of play offensively and the stability around him appears to be a great thing for Wilson to revitalize his career.
Will he do just that though? That remains the question.
In the annual QB Tiers project from The Athletic that has 50 NFL coaches and executives have their say in Quarterback Tiers, Wilson checked in as the No. 22 quarterback in the ranking, and as the last QB in Tier 3. Based on voting, Wilson received two votes for Tier 2, 35 votes for Tier 3, and 12 votes for Tier 4.
The Athletic describes a Tier 3 QB as, “a legitimate starter but needs a heavier running game and/or defensive component to win. A lower-volume drop back passing offense suits him best.”
That description certainly fits Wilson at this point in his career. He’s not what he once was, a guy who can scramble around and make some insane plays. He needs a strong run game, and a good defense on the other side. He has that in Pittsburgh, without a doubt.
It’s the type of environment Wilson can thrive in.
“I would not be surprised if he has success in Pittsburgh because of the culture and system,” an assistant GM said in the QB Tiers, according to The Athletic.
“To me, he would be a 5 if he wasn’t with [Mike] Tomlin,” an offensive coordinator said of Wilson in the QB Tiers. “Tomlin is a psychologist. He can push the right buttons. However good Russell Wilson can be, Mike Tomlin will figure it out.”
That seems a bit harsh, considering there were no Tier 5 QBs in this year’s QB Tiers. Wilson was nowhere near that bad last season, nor will he ever be close to that bad in his NFL career.
We’re talking ranking him below guys like Sam Darnold and Jacoby Brissett. That doesn’t seem logical, does it?
Being with Tomlin will certainly help. That’s a relationship that Wilson has spoken highly of so far in his tenure with the Steelers. The Tomlin Effect is real, period.
Will it be enough to coax the best football out of Wilson? That remains to be seen. But there’s stability there, an understanding on a human level, and respect from a coaching perspective, too, something that Wilson didn’t exactly have in Denver last season.
That pairing in Denver was one that one NFL head coach believed wasn’t going to work from the get-go. But Wilson didn’t help himself with the sacks and the struggles reading the field at times.
“I didn’t think that would go well with Sean (Payton),” the head coach said of Payton and Wilson, according to The Athletic. “I feel bad for all the scrutiny he has faced, some of which he brings on himself. I just don’t think he sees the field well. I see a guy that played a certain way and was able to do it at a high level for a certain period of time, and I just don’t think he has the athleticism to play that way.”
That’s the biggest concern with Wilson moving forward. He wants to play a certain way, which is that backyard style he’s played his entire career, holding onto the football longer, getting out of the pocket and making plays on the move. He can still do that at times, but it can’t be how his game is built overall.
The problem is, during his time in Denver and late in his career in Seattle, Wilson didn’t really change how he played, leading to some struggles. On his third stop in four seasons, Wilson has to change, period.
If not, is time as an NFL starting quarterback won’t last very long in Pittsburgh and might never happen again in the NFL.
Along with Wilson, fellow Steelers’ QB Justin Fields appeared in the annual NFL QB Tiers from The Athletic, landing in Tier 4 and No. 24 overall, just two spots behind Wilson.
According to The Athletic, a Tier 4 QB is, “an unproven player (not enough information for voters to classify) or a veteran who ideally would not start all 17 games.”
Feels like Fields could fit into both of those descriptions as a relative unproven player despite three seasons in the NFL with all the talent and physical traits in the world but a guy that probably shouldn’t start 17 games right now.
“I can see people putting him as a 4, but if you have a good run game and he’s part of that run game, you can win,” an exec said of Fields, according to The Athletic. “I don’t want to play him because of the way he can run the football. He is a dimension that this league does not have. He is Jalen Hurts on nitroglycerin. Fast, strong, physical, tough. I would not give up on him.”
It would be foolish to give up on Fields long-term. He has all of the physical traits to be a special quarterback in the NFL. Being in Chicago the last three seasons wasn’t exactly good for him, especially with the lack of talent offensively around him. That led to Fields developing some bad habits trying to do too much offensively.
He gets a chance to reset in Pittsburgh, which should do wonders for him in his career. He’s likely ticketed for the backup role behind Wilson in 2024, but getting a chance to reset a bit and rebuild himself under OC Arthur Smith and QBs coach Tom Arth could do wonders for Fields — and the Steelers — moving forward.
