We’re just five days away from Russell Wilson’s first snap as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback, but there are still some who believe that Justin Fields should be leading the offense in Week 1. Wilson or Fields debates dragged on throughout this offseason, and they’re likely only going to heat up even more as the regular season kicks off. Every Russell Wilson mistake will be analyzed under a microscope, and if he struggles at all for an extended period of time the media will be clamoring for Fields to get his chance.
Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky appeared on Tuesday morning’s episode of Pardon My Take, and he discussed his thoughts on Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
“Are you with Russ playing fine at 35 or 36 really going to contend against Cincinnati or Baltimore in the division? Really? No,” Orlovsky said. “Are they somewhat similar pass-game players? Sure. So why not just say the only real chance we have is if we strike lightning in a bottle with Justin and all of a sudden, he puts it a little bit more together in the passing game. We’re a much better team than he’s had in Chicago. You kind of do what Philadelphia did with Jalen (Hurts) in 2022 with the quarterback run. That’s what I would do. It seems like they’re going to go with what they think is going to be consistency from Russ. I just don’t think they’re going to get it.”
Orlovsky has been in Justin Fields’ corner all along, and he’s mentioned several times how he believes that it was never a real quarterback competition like Mike Tomlin claimed it was. Regardless of the legitimacy of the competition, it’s apparent that Orlovsky doesn’t believe in Russell Wilson’s upside. He views the Steelers starting Wilson as Tomlin taking the safe option. But in Orlovsky’s opinion, he’s not quite as safe of an option as the team thinks.
Wilson hasn’t been a model of consistency over the past two seasons, frequently bouncing between games with high completion percentages and multiple touchdown passes to games where he couldn’t string together first downs and threw multiple interceptions. Fields gets knocked for his “inconsistent” play, but Wilson shouldn’t be free from blame if we’re weighing the last two years with the Denver Broncos more heavily than his years with the Seattle Seahawks.
The comparison of Justin Fields’ potential usage with the Steelers to Jalen Hurts’ usage with the Eagles in 2022 is even more fascinating. At the time, Hurts was going into his third NFL season, and his second season as the Eagles’ full-time starter. Hurts struggled as a passer in 2021, completing just 61.3 percent of his passes with a 16:9 touchdown-interception ratio. But he also ran for 784 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The Eagles believed in his talent and upside, and offensive coordinator Shane Steichen built the offense around his unique skill set in 2022. Hurts led the league in designed runs that year, and he was getting the ball out of his hands quicker on pass plays. This allowed him to take advantage of his strong arm and set up deep shots more effectively. As a result, Hurts produced an MVP-caliber season with 35 total touchdowns and just six interceptions with a much improved 66.5% completion percentage.
Fields’ numbers in 2023 were eerily similar to Jalen Hurts numbers in 2021, the year before he latter’s breakout season. He also threw exactly 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions, to go along with 657 rushing yards. When you have a quarterback with Fields’ combination of arm strength and explosive running ability, there’s always a level of upside that many solid pocket passers couldn’t ever achieve.
Obviously, there were many other factors that helped Hurts ascend in 2022, like having one of the top offensive lines in the NFL and a phenomenal wide receiver duo of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. The Steelers’ offensive line will probably not be at that level in 2024, and their receiving corps is unfortunately not as strong. But Fields is still just 25 years old, and he left an even worse situation in Chicago.
The case for Russell Wilson is that he’s a proven winner who played at a near MVP-level for multiple seasons during his time in Seattle, and most importantly, he’s a Super Bowl champion. His big-game experience can’t be glossed over, especially when Fields hasn’t ever played in a postseason game.
Can Russell Wilson have the Steelers competing with the Bengals and Ravens in the AFC North? Is he capable of winning playoff games as he turns 36 this season? We’ll find out as it all kicks off this Sunday.
And we’ll see if he can silence his critics like Orlovsky, who believe Justin Fields is the answer and maybe even the next Jalen Hurts.
