The Pittsburgh Steelers have a lot of things to figure out on the offensive side of the ball this offseason. First and foremost, they need to find a quarterback. One of those options is their primary starter from 2024, Russell Wilson. Former NFL wide receiver Brandon Marshall believes Wilson does still make sense in Pittsburgh, but he does think they need to make a surprising change.
“I would like to see Russell Wilson back,” Marshall said Wednesday via I Am Athlete Daily. “It fits. It makes sense. But not with Arthur [Smith], the offensive coordinator. That is the problem. Make the tough decision Coach [Mike] Tomlin. Your problem is not the quarterback, your problem is the offensive coordinator.”
Things went smoothly at first for Smith, Wilson, and the rest of the Steelers offense in 2024 after the veteran took over in Week 7. After having to adjust to Justin Fields starting the first six games due Wilson’s lingering calf injury, Smith seemed to adjust well once Wilson took over. Wilson even had one of the best games of his career in the Steelers’ Week 13 win against the Cincinnati Bengals.
However, things obviously took a turn for the worst as the season came to an end. For various reasons, the offense struggled mightily over the five-game stretch to end the year. Both Wilson and Smith got some blame, which was deserved.
For Marshall, this isn’t the first time he’s assigning blame to Smith. About a month ago, Marshall defended Wilson, saying that he should have gone rogue and ignored Smith. Marshall specifically complained about the packages the Steelers were running and said that when Wilson goes up-tempo and calls the game himself, he does well.
To be clear, there are no signs that the Steelers will be moving on from Smith.
Since the season ended, though, there’s been conflicting reports regarding the relationship between Wilson and Smith. Steelers insider Gerry Dulac has reported that there was friction between the two. Shortly after, CBS’ Aditi Kinkhabwala refuted that and claimed the Arthur Smith was getting the most out of the offense as he could.
For now, Wilson does stand a decent chance of returning to Pittsburgh this offseason. Marshall is happy about that but not the pairing with Smith.
