While he got off to a slow start, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson put together a really solid debut in the team’s 37-15 win over the New York Jets in Week 7. Wilson threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns while adding another score on a quarterback sneak. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger thinks Wilson will continue to get better. As Wilson gets more comfortable, the Steelers will begin to open the playbook up more.
“As Russ gets more comfortable and knocks the rust off, I think you’ll start to see everybody get more involved, more unique plays, maybe use [Darnell] Washington down in the red zone. It’s not just gonna be deep balls and hope that George Pickens continues to make plays because he’s not gonna most likely make those juggling catches every week,” Roethlisberger said on the latest episode of his Footbahlin podcast. “For the most part, I think you’re gonna see a Russell Wilson that is gonna continue to get better as he gets more familiar with being out there.”
He also said that as Wilson moves further away from his calf injury, that should help his confidence, and we might see him use his legs more.
While I don’t anticipate Wilson being a real threat to use his legs, the thought that he’ll continue to get better and more confident as he gets healthier makes a lot of sense. It was also Wilson’s first live game action since Pittsburgh’s second preseason game, so there was some early rust that he had to knock off before he settled in and made some plays. As he continues to grow comfortable in the offense, his confidence should grow, and the offense could expand.
While Wilson spread the ball around last night, he only completed 16 passes, and a quarter of those completions were to TE Darnell Washington on the same concept. Washington is a big body and can be a red zone threat for the Steelers, and we saw them get him involved in Week 2 against the Broncos. The Steelers could look to continue making him a threat in the red zone. However, as Wilson gets more comfortable, he’ll continue to look to spread the ball, and we could see an uptick in production from guys like TE Pat Freiermuth and WR Van Jefferson.
While Pickens is a contested catch wizard, Roethlisberger is right that he can’t be expected to make some of the catches he made last night every week. It’s never a bad idea to throw the ball up to Pickens in single coverage and see if he can make a play. Still, it can’t be the basis of Pittsburgh’s passing offense, and we should see Wilson continue to grow and the offense develop as he settles in under center.
The Steelers are once again in primetime in Week 8 with a Monday Night Football matchup against the New York Giants next week. That game could be a good opportunity for Wilson to get more comfortable against a Giants defense that struggled in Week 7.
