If healthy, who should Steelers start: Russell Wilson or Justin Fields?
I mean, this is the obvious question for the week, right? Justin Fields kinda-sorta led the Steelers to a victory in Week 1, but he only played because Russell Wilson suffered some calf tightness in the week leading up to the game.
Assuming Wilson is deemed sufficiently healthy to play, though, should the Steelers start him or Fields in Week 2? The Steelers are playing Wilson’s former team, the Broncos, so you know he will be highly motivated. But it’s not like Fields isn’t fighting for his future, and motivation is only one factor.
Bottom line: who gives the Steelers a better chance to win, barring health? Justin Fields is by far the superior and more dynamic athlete, but Russell Wilson opens up the offense. We did see some of the typical complaints in Fields’ game on Sunday, but we would see typical Wilson complaints if he plays as well.
One area where Russell Wilson should make a difference compared to Justin Fields is the range of the passing game. Wilson should present a more dynamic option in terms of depth levels and areas of the field. For example, Fields doesn’t work the intermediate and middle of the field much. Now, Wilson has some limitations there as well, particularly over the middle, but he works depths more.
Wilson is also better than Fields in terms of reads, which makes it more likely that he won’t fixate. George Pickens and Pat Freiermuth saw nearly half of Fields’ passing targets, for example, with nobody else seeing more than two.
The Steelers ran a lot in that game, but that’s partly because of Justin Fields playing instead of Russell Wilson. Some of that was scrambling, but a lot of it was designed runs or options. They don’t do that just because of concerns about his passing, but because he’s such a dynamic running threat.
Ultimately, I think we’re dealing with a far too incomplete dataset without seeing Russell Wilson start a game in a Steelers uniform. We have seen Justin Fields play more as the Steelers’ quarterback than Wilson at this point. How can we know if Fields is the better option if they don’t give Wilson the chance to prove otherwise?
The Steelers’ 2024 season is approaching, following another disappointing year that culminated in a first-round playoff loss. The only change-up in the annual formula lately is whether they exit early or miss the playoffs altogether. They have had a long offseason since the Buffalo Bills stamped them out of their misery back in January.
The biggest question hanging over the team is the quarterback question. Does Russell Wilson make them a Super Bowl-caliber team, or are they wasting a year? How will the team continue to address the depth chart?
The regular season is here, following weeks of camp and preseason games. The Steelers made numerous moves through signings and trade—and release. More than usual, they seemed comfortable creating holes, confident they can fill them. Some they managed to fill, others not so much. Now that we have so many pieces of the puzzle, however, we merely have a new set of questions to ask.
