Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers have shown their willingness to put Justin Fields into the game for certain plays while Russell Wilson is the starter, their opponents are on high alert. The Cleveland Browns are obviously going to be prepared for any package of plays for the athletic quarterback. Especially after what New Orleans Saints offensive weapon Taysom Hill was able to accomplish against the Browns on Sunday.
Browns S Grant Delpit was asked if he thinks the Steelers will piggyback off what the Saints accomplished with packages for Justin Fields.
“I don’t know, maybe,” Delpit said via the Browns YouTube. “We’re gonna be prepared for it though.”
Hill has been a gadget player for many years in the NFL, but I don’t think he has ever had a game quite like the one he had against the Browns. At 34 years old, Hill had 230 all-purpose yards, including 188 yards from scrimmage, and three rushing touchdowns. All of that came in specific packages as Derek Carr was the starting quarterback for the game.
It would obviously be shocking to see Fields get anywhere near that level of involvement as Hill, who played 33 snaps against the Browns. Fields saw just three snaps in his first time coming in off the bench Sunday against the Ravens.
Steelers OC Arthur Smith told reporters today that they don’t just view Fields as a gadget player, but rather as a premium starting quarterback. The Steelers have had struggles in the red zone, so perhaps we will see an additional handful of snaps for Fields in those scenarios to provide a shot in the arm to the red-zone offense.
Similar to how the Steelers have Fields to help them prepare for quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels, the Browns have Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who ran a 4.5-second 40-yard dash coming out of college, to help them prepare for any Fields packages. They also play the Baltimore Ravens two times a season and are quite familiar with the threat of high-end mobility at the quarterback position.
How much will Fields get used? Who knows, but Taysom Hill’s success on Sunday could inspire the Steelers to give him a few additional snaps.
