Ever since the Pittsburgh Steelers acquired both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields this offseason, the team’s been wrapped up in a quarterback controversy. Things have only gotten more complicated as the season has progressed. Fields has seen action for the first six weeks of the year as Wilson healed from a lingering calf injury. However, Wilson’s now healthy, with two weeks of practice under his belt. As a result, Mike Tomlin has decided to go back to Wilson this week.
Looking at these two quarterbacks, it’s an interesting scenario. They each have similarities, yet stark differences at this point in their careers. Both struggled in their former homes. That’s part of the reason they’re duking it out for the starting job in Pittsburgh. Fields is agile, while Wilson used to be as mobile, but is starting to turn into more of a pocket passer. However, Wilson is also better at pushing the ball down the field than Fields is at this point in his career.
The biggest difference between the two is their age. At 35, Wilson is about a full decade older than Fields. With that in mind, he’s obviously at a very different point in his career, as he continues to pursue his eventual Hall Of Fame chances. As FS1 Danny Parkins claimed on Thursday’s episode of Breakfast Ball, Wilson might need this starting job for his Hall of Fame hopes.
“This guy’s [Russell Wilson] never been First-Team All Pro, Second-Team only once,” Parkins said. “He led the league in touchdowns once. He’s led the league in sacks taken twice. Justin Fields needs this job to launch a career. Russ needs this job to get back on track for Canton.”
This is a bold take from Parkins, but it does make a bit of sense. Wilson exploded onto the scene with the Seattle Seahawks in 2012. In Seattle, he had quite the impressive start to his career. He led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl victory in his second year in the league, and took them back to the Super Bowl the following year. At the time, Wilson looked like one of the most promising young quarterbacks in recent memory.
Unfortunately for him, things haven’t gone quite as well since. He struggled to get back to those winning ways with the Denver Broncos over the past two years. Overall, after such a bright beginning to his career, he has started to fade off a bit. With that in mind, he doesn’t seem like a lock to make the Hall Of Fame just yet. Wilson is 19th all-time in passing yards with 43,653, behind players like Drew Bledsoe, Carson Palmer and Eli Manning. He’s 13th in passing touchdowns with 334, still behind the likes of Matthew Stafford, Eli Manning and Matt Ryan.
With all that considered, Wilson probably does need to end his career on a strong note to make the Hall Of Fame. Him earning the starting job back is massive for those chances, but he’ll need to play well in order to keep it.
