While the Pittsburgh Steelers are starting Russell Wilson, they have entertained the possibility of a Justin Fields package. Yet despite paying lip service to it, they did not show it at all last Sunday. After the 37-15 win over the New York Jets, HC Mike Tomlin said he did not consider using Fields in the game. But what about this next game, or after the bye week? Bob Labriola seems to think it’s coming.
“Packages within games for Justin Fields are in the future, I believe, but Russell Wilson is one of the most highly rated red zone quarterbacks in the NFL,” Labriola wrote in his Asked and Answered column for Steelers.com. “In 2023 with the Broncos, Wilson ranked fifth in the NFL in red zone touchdown passes, and he threw only 1 red zone interception in his 60 attempts. Again, I believe the Steelers plan to utilize Fields in some way during the 10 games following their bye, but the notion that they need an alternative to Wilson at quarterback in the red zone is misguided.”
One of the interesting wrinkles about the Justin Fields discussion has been usage consideration. We have heard various beat writers talk about using him in short-yardage and red-zone situations. After all he rushed for five touchdowns in the first six weeks, so why not use that?
But the problem, as Labriola points out, is that Russell Wilson is a good quarterback in the red zone. And in his first start with the Steelers, they punched it in from inside the 20 on four of their six opportunities. I went into the game expecting to see Justin Fields at some point, but not necessarily in the red zone.
Fields is one of the elite athletes at the quarterback position, but that can only take you so far. He went 10-28 as a starter during his first three seasons in the league despite rushing for over 2,000 yards during that span. But that is why using him in some sort of package is so tantalizing.
In theory, you can get the best of Justin Fields without putting too much on his plate. He is not at his strongest when reading defenses or delivering consistently accurate passes. If you are asking him to play a read-option game, you are limiting his menu and the variables that can go wrong.
While the Steelers didn’t use Fields last Sunday, I don’t doubt that they will this week. Or perhaps they might wait until after the bye week. If they were to do that, it would maximize their ability to build a strategy around implementing it.
One also has to consider Russell Wilson into the equation, of course, as the starter. Do you take him off the field to put Justin Fields in? How much do you actually use it, and do you do it one play at a time? There are many factors to consider, but I think ultimately the Steelers will try to take advantage of the opportunity.
