This season did not end how the Pittsburgh Steelers wanted it to. The losers of five straight, the Steelers didn’t even look like they belonged in the playoffs. The Baltimore Ravens crushed them, handing the Steelers another blowout postseason loss. Now, their attention turns to the offseason and how to get better. The biggest question they have might be at quarterback. Russell Wilson started for most of this year, but he’s a free agent. Former NFL quarterback Tim Hasselbeck believes the Steelers should move on from Wilson.
“I think you have to look elsewhere,” Hasselbeck said recently on ESPN’s SportsCenter. “Russell Wilson had a good year, played better than I thought that he would play this season, but he’s 36 years old and you’re in a division with Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson. So, like the reality is, as well as Russell Wilson played, you have to find a way to become more dynamic, to be better, to be more explosive, consistently.”
Hasselbeck makes a good point. Wilson did perform better than most people believed he would, but he still wasn’t good enough. He was part of the reason for the Steelers’ losing streak. He was too careless with the ball, and his decision-making wasn’t good enough.
The Steelers’ offense had other issues besides just Wilson. However, many of their problems could be traced back to him. With Wilson starting, it often felt like there wasn’t a rhythm to the Steelers’ offense. Most of the time, Wilson was either hitting deep shots or checkdowns.
It was nice for the Steelers to have that explosive element for their offense, but Hasselbeck is correct that it wasn’t consistent enough to be relied upon. It made the Steelers too volatile.
Hasselbeck makes another great point about the talent at quarterback in the AFC North. Burrow and Jackson are two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Wilson is past his prime, and it doesn’t feel like he will get any better with age. Investing a ton of time and money into him might be a bad decision. It sounds like he wants to stay in Pittsburgh, but it takes two to tango.
That would likely leave the Steelers back at the drawing board when it comes to quarterback. Maybe that isn’t a bad thing, though. Winning in the NFL without a franchise quarterback is incredibly difficult. Perhaps this will help push the Steelers toward finding the true successor to Ben Roethlisberger.
