The Steelers are 2-0 with Justin Fields at the helm of their offense, and he is likely to make a third straight start on Sunday. Russell Wilson is still not practicing in full, but when he is healthy his place on the depth chart will be worth watching closely. 
Wilson continues to rehab the calf injury which cost him time during training camp and which he reaggravated shortly before the start of the season. Head coach Mike Tomlin has stated Wilson remains the team’s starter (the role he officially earned after the preseason) once he returns to full health, although strong showings from Fields could sway the team’s opinion on that front. Tomlin does not have a true decision to make until both passers are healthy, but Wilson is making progress.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports the Seahawks Super Bowl winner will likely receive a chance as the team’s starter once he has recovered. Wilson’s command of the offense, Fowler notes, remains an area where he is deemed to have an advantage over Fields. That is one factor which led to Wilson remaining in pole position for the QB1 spot throughout the offseason, in addition to his experience and lack of turnover issues relative to Fields. The latter has done well in that regard so far, though, and he will aim to deliver another clean performance on Sunday.
Pittsburgh ranks just 26th in scoring at the moment and 29th in passing yardage. The team has scored only one offensive touchdown through two weeks, and improved efficiency (at least, to a degree) will be needed over the course of the campaign. Fields was viewed by many as the signal-caller with the most upside in the Steelers’ QB room, and an update on this situation from before their Week 2 win suggested Tomlin could stick with the former Bears draftee even when Wilson is back to 100%.
“I’m definitely gaining ground,” Wilson – who practiced on a limited basis Thursday – said, via Fowler’s colleague Brooke Pryor. “I feel good. I was able to do a lot more work today, yesterday, so we’re getting better every day.”
Both Wilson and Fields are pending free agents, so their respective financial futures depend on how the 2024 season shakes out. Wilson could very well still see the field at some point, especially if Tomlin holds firm on the team’s pecking order at the position. As the Kenny Pickett–Mason Rudolph situation demonstrated last year, though, changes to the depth chart can be made based on unexpected performances. When (or if) Wilson gets back in the fold will be an interesting storyline to follow.
I mean Fields is the obvious choice considering age and potential, right? I understand he’s not a consistent anticipatory thrower, especially over the middle, but it’s not like Russ is better, you could argue pretty easily Russ is worse over the middle. If Fields doesn’t turn it over and take stupid sacks I think he’ll hold on.
Too bad Fields is a turnover and sack machine
Fair, but not so far this year for the turnovers. Russ also takes a ton of sacks. Again, one could argue Russ hurts his protection more than Justin. At least Justin is a top running QB.
Hadn’t turned the ball over in two games..what’s your point?
The same point as the original post I made?
Old habits never die they just hibernate. He’ll resort back to his old ways in no time flat.
Fields has the same amount of turnovers as Russ Wilson the last 2 years 13 in 2022 & 13 in 2023.
It is actually a false statement that he is a turnover machine because 13 is not a high number
These posts about the Steelers QB situation is as annoying as the Apuke stories…come on…it’s Fields
Keep on racking up those snap counts JF. Between the Panthers crapping themselves and Fields raising the odds the Bears might end up with a 4th and the first pick in the second round next year. Every little bit helps. Besides Wilson is over. He should just move on and follow his wife around. That’s not a bad gig.
Why is it that so many head coaches don’t leave the “hot” guy in until he starts to crap the bed? If a guy is coasting along and winning and has a connection with the pass catchers why would you pull him and throw the guy who didn’t practice half the time in training camp and is cold as ice in? Makes no sense to me. It’s not like Wilson is making 50 million more than Fields, or even that one is the long term solution for the Steelers. Fields might actually be a long term solution for them if he can focus long enough to throw the ball instead of thinking he has to take off running every play. This is just my humble opinion and since I’ve never coached anything above high school I’m probably pretty off base here
That old ” You can’t lose your job to an injury” Myth is just that. Mythical. The list of guys who have lost their job due to an injury in the NFL would stretch from here to the Sun and back.
The list would stretch that far, for those that fail in math. Silly hyperboles might stretch that far
I’m just going by Tomlin saying that if Wilson is healthy he’s their guy. Meanwhile Fields is 2-0 and they’re at the top of the division.Lots of teams have gone pretty far with a so-so QB and a great defense.
For what it is worth, only 31% of people placing bets are putting money on the Steelers. They are ahead of only Carolina, Denver, Tennessee, and The Rams.
Wilson might inspire a new interest in other areas. They do have some prime time games upcoming on the schedule.
Will it be Herbert or Stick under center for Chargers?
Personally I’d keep Fields as the starter but my general assumption is that the bottom line results would be essentially the same whether it’s Fields or Wilson. Just a different style to get the same results kind of scenario.
Can’t ask for more than being 2-0 with the Bengals and Ravens at 0-2 though. Best part in my opinion is that Zach Frazier looks pretty good especially in the run game in one on one situations. All great Steelers teams had great centers. Frazier certainly has plenty of development left to be in the same realm as Webster, Dawson and Pouncey but I can already see that he might have that potential.
With Fields in there so far, Steelers have won time possession battle; esp against Atl. Methodically keep those chains moving keeping d fresh gets win 3.
The Steelers offense is Tomlin ball…controlling the click, playing safe is boring. Wins a few games. There will be times when the defense cracks and the Steelers need to score. Tomlin needs to quit Tomlin ball and let the kid play. His legs are a big advantage. Last week he made 2 perfect throws to Pickens. Penalities wiped them out. Time to let him play.
Not that Wilson is a guaranteed improvement, but for completions’ sake it’s worth noting that Fields also had a few very bad easy misses to go with those positives. He’s also had consistent issues handling snaps that date back to his offseason acquisition by Pittsburgh. I don’t see a reason to deviate right now after two wins, but it’d be disingenuous to pretend that the offense has been smooth or without inconsistency with Fields under center.
You’ve blamed Tomlin for holding Fields on a leash, but that’s exactly why he has to-letting Fields run loose only increases the frequency of his inconsistency. Keeping him a game manager protects him and the offense and is actually the biggest reason to keep him over Wilson, who is the better choice for big play potential, but also the choice most likely to deviate from a safe gameplan. Wilson has had zero qualms about calling his own risky big plays at the LoS, which occasionally result in big plays, but often fall flat or turn the ball over. I mean, this was the whole argument for the “Let Russ Cook” movement in Seattle. If you want Fields, you need to play it safe-otherwise, he doesn’t offer much of an argument over Wilson.
Bottom Line: As long as the Steelers keep a lead or be within a field goal they have a chance. Justin Fields is not going to bring you back when you a TD.