The Pittsburgh Steelers head into 2024 training camp with several holes and questions on the roster, ranging from questions of depth on the defensive line, to who is capable of filling the hole left in the receiver room from the Diontae Johnson trade. General Manager Omar Khan and his team have done a good job thus far to begin fixing these problems, but still have headway to make.
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Former Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson with the Carolina Panthers.
Rumors surrounding the quarterback position have swirled around the Steelers since Kenny Pickett's injury in 2023. Khan addressed the issue by remodeling the entire room this offseason, but that hasn't stopped the question being asked of who will be under center during the season. Both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields were brought to Pittsburgh with the opportunity to win the starting job and remake their careers, though, Wilson has been placed in "pole position" to be the starter come Week 1.
That being said, Fields is still projected by many to have an opportunity to start at some point. Questions surrounding Wilson's most recent stop in Denver, and the future of the room have led many members of the national media to state that it's not an overreaction to think that the Steelers should be analyzing all options when looking at the immediate and long-term future.
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Former Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson (#3) scrambles out of the pocket.
In a list by CBS Sports detailing possible overreactions that fans are having prior to the start of the 2024 season, Jeff Kerr gave his reasoning as to why he believes Wilson will be benched at some point in 2024.
"Wilson can take care of the football and move the chains, though, which are his best chances of remaining the starting quarterback all season. Any sort of slump and the Steelers may be poised to make a move to Fields, especially since the Steelers may want to find out what they have in Fields while he's under team control. Pittsburgh is better at quarterback for 2024, but needs to find a long-term solution. The Steelers owe it to themselves to find out if that quarterback is Fields, unless Wilson plays at an All-Pro level all year."
Both quarterbacks are both playing on essentially one-year deals. Fields will be on the final year of his rookie contract after the Steelers declined his fifth-year option, while Wilson is playing on the one-year veteran minimum deal he signed with Pittsburgh in free agency. With a weak quarterback draft class in the wings, the Steelers know that the experiment they are running this season to find the future at the position must be successful if they hope to remain relevant beyond this season.
Both Steelers Quarterbacks Deserve The Chance
The secret to sustaining long-term success in the NFL is to consistently be building for the present and future. There is a chess match going on during the game, but the strategy starts at the beginning of the offseason in March. In the Steelers case, they didn't hesitate to bring in Wilson to compete with Pickett for the starting job. Pickett's sudden departure seems to have clouded the fact that Wilson was brought in for a reason, and that reason is to win.
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Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Picket.
Wilson comes off a season in which not only was he fifth in the league with a 3.25 touchdown to interception ratio (26-8), but held a better ratio than the entire Steelers' quarterback room combined in 2023 at 1.44 (16-9). He may not be the MVP-caliber player he once was, but Wilson still has the skill and ability to run an offense that will rely heavily on the play action game.
Fields comes to Pittsburgh looking to revitalize a career full of questions and concerns. What once was a player regarded as potentially the best of the 2021 class, Fields has tumbled back down to Earth with accuracy issues and questionable coaching. The hope is that by coming to Pittsburgh, he can show the world that Chicago was the problem.
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Jordan Love lines up for a snap against the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive front during a regular season game in the 2023 season.
The biggest difference between Fields and Wilson in the grand scheme of things is age, as Wilson enters into 2024 at the age of 35 while Fields is 25. Wilson simply doesn't have as long of a career in front of him as he does behind him. Pittsburgh could always do something similar to Fields as the Green Bay Packers did to Jordan Love, but with the lack of success in previous starts, Fields may not get the same money he may feel entitled to.
Tomlin and the Steelers are loyal to their players at the end of the day, and won't hand Wilson the short leash Kerr eludes to. However, Pittsburgh is a town that demands success and the best from their sports teams. Like they did by chanting for Pickett to start early in his Steelers tenure, or by letting ownership know that Matt Canada had to go, if Wilson struggles he will hear it.
Who will be the starter at the end of the year starts and ends with Wilson, and based on the scheme and resurgence in 2023, he has earned that ability.
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