Pittsburgh Steelers LT Dan Moore Jr. knows he could be blocking for both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson on Sunday. Now fully healthy, fully practicing, and taking first-team reps, Wilson is poised to make his 2024 debut. Yet even if he starts, Fields could take some snaps away from him.
The good news is Moore doesn’t believe that a change in quarterback will change much, structurally or pragmatically. Obviously, the hope of a change is to score more and find more success. But the Steelers plan to run roughly the same offense, with minor tweaks—and the nuances between Wilson and Fields don’t sound egregious in terms of blocking for them.
“I don’t think it’s gonna change tremendously”, Moore said, via the Steelers’ website, about a Russell Wilson-led offense in comparison to what the Steelers have been doing with Justin Fields. “Obviously, designed quarterback schemes and runs and stuff like that may change, but for the most part, our job will be the same: keep them clean and get the ground game going”.
Justin Fields has five rushing touchdowns, which obviously Russell Wilson isn’t likely to match. He scored some of those touchdowns after plays broke down, however, sometimes missing the intended play. And Wilson, even last year, was successful in the red zone.
We should remind ourselves that Russell Wilson isn’t exactly late-stage Ben Roethlisberger here. The Steelers sought out Wilson this offseason partly because he offered the mobility they desired. He isn’t a virtual running back like Justin Fields, but he is among the most prolific running quarterbacks ever. Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens only just recently passed him on the all-time quarterback rushing list.
There are, of course, differences in the type of player Wilson and Fields are. But that is true of any two quarterbacks, all of whom have quirks personal to them. Dan Moore Jr. doesn’t believe it will be a problem understanding, for example, how Wilson navigates the pocket.
“Just talking to him, I think Russ [Wilson] may be a little bit more shallow at times [than Fields]”, Moore said. “That’ll be something we’re talking about throughout the week to tackle that. But I don’t think it necessarily changes anything”.
The Steelers have had a revolving cast of offensive linemen blocking for Fields the past six weeks, anyway. What’s the harm in rotating the quarterbacks on top of that? Should the Steelers employ a Justin Fields package within a Russell Wilson offense, that would be a wrinkle. But they also have six weeks of experience blocking for Fields.
Critics of the idea of starting Wilson over Fields often cite the state of the Steelers’ offensive line. The thinking is that they need a player like Fields who can turn would-be sacks into positive runs. But they don’t account for the would-be positive plays Fields has turned into sacks and other negative plays.
Now, Wilson isn’t entirely free of that, either. But the Steelers’ pass protection really isn’t so far off where it should be, either. The offense isn’t going to fall apart just by going from an extremely mobile quarterback to just a mobile quarterback.
