Player: QB Russell Wilson
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Facing great scrutiny, Russell Wilson had eased a lot of nerves by the end of his Steelers debut. While he did not play well for the first third of the game, he showed by the end that he still has something left in the tank. Nobody doubts any longer he is the Steelers’ starter, even if Mike Tomlin won’t explicitly state it.
It only took the majority of the week, but we are finally talking about Russell Wilson in this column. Wilson was obviously the biggest story of the past week, making his Steelers debut. After dressing as the backup in Week 6, he started against the New York Jets and set records. He threw for more yards and led a team to the most points ever in a Steelers quarterback’s debut.
Whether or not Russ “cooked” is in the eye of the beholder. Some argue that some of his deep connections owe more to his receivers than his throws. At the same time, he had not played a meaningful game in about 10 months. He was also coming off a calf injury that had lingered for months, so all things considered, he did well.
That also seems to be the popular even if not universal consensus following Sunday’s game. He threw for 264 yards, hitting George Pickens and Van Jefferson for touchdowns. After Justin Fields rushed for five touchdowns in the Steelers’ first six games, he even got in on that himself with a rushing score.
The conversation for the first six weeks of the season was whether Justin Fields could cement his position as starter. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin obviously didn’t feel he did, even if many others disagreed. He went with Russell Wilson and probably had his own doubts through the first quarter. But he’s probably feeling pretty good about his decision right now.
Still, we are working from a very small sample size of just one game, against a beat up secondary. And up next the Steelers have the New York Giants, who are not a great team even if they have some talented defenders. Fields didn’t face the toughest schedule either, though. Russell Wilson will carve out his destiny on the back half of the Steelers’ schedule, as was always going to be the case.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
