As expected, veteran Russell Wilson was named the starting quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers entering the 2024 season. He held onto the pole position throughout the offseason, training camp and the preseason all while dealing with a calf injury early in training camp that caused him to miss four practices.
Though Wilson missed time and backup quarterback Justin Fields took all of the QB1 reps in the meantime, it wasn’t enough for the former Ohio State star and No. 11 overall pick of the Chicago Bears in the 2021 NFL Draft to supplant Wilson.
So, Wilson’s starting quarterback nod was expected. But that didn’t stop some people from within the Steelers’ organization making the push for Fields to be the starter.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, that’s exactly what happened internally before the team ultimately gave itself two cracks at getting the decision right, going with Wilson first and then potentially being able to turn to Fields.
“Bottom line: This isn’t anyone’s first rodeo in Pittsburgh, and Fields took some fundamental changes that the offensive coaches gave him (one being a return to the type of footwork he’d used at Ohio State), and really worked on them over the past few weeks of camp,” Breer writes regarding the QB situation. “It was enough to have some folks internally push for Fields to start. There was, too, plenty of merit to the idea.
“But the way it is now, again, to give yourself two shots, also makes plenty of sense.”
That some inside the organization could have been pushing for Fields to start isn’t much of a surprise. He’s the younger, more dynamic quarterback and seems to fit new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s offense just a bit better than Wilson.
Add that the Steelers have someone in the front office who had a huge hand in drafting Fields in Chicago, too, and that makes all the sense in the world.
That would be Mark Sadowski, the director of player scouting. Back in February before Fields was even close to becoming a member of the Black and Gold, former Pro Football Focus analyst Brad Spielberger stated on a podcast that he knew some within the Steelers’ front office were fans of Fields.
Then, Steelers Depot’s own Alex Kozora pointed out on Twitter that Sadowski was the director of college scouting for the Bears the year that Fields was drafted.
It’s plausible that he was pounding the table for Fields back in February and could have been pounding the table for him in the summer to start, too. He’s done the most work on him and had the most experience with him, to be fair.
Ultimately though, the Steelers went with Wilson, which is what almost everyone fully expected to happen. Now, the pressure is on Wilson to perform well, because if he doesn’t, Fields will be right there breathing down his neck and could take over as the starter in Pittsburgh, sooner rather than later.
