While all signs have pointed to the Steelers pivoting to Russell Wilson, there hadn’t been any true confirmation about the team’s QB status for Sunday night. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has appeared to provide a definitive report, tweeting that Wilson will indeed get the start at quarterback for the Steelers tomorrow against the Jets.
[RELATED: Steelers’ Russell Wilson Expects To Play In Week 7]
Rapoport did provide a minor wrinkle, noting that both Wilson and Justin Fields are expected to play. However, Wilson is expected to receive the “bulk” of the snaps at the position.
Wilson all but confirmed his QB1 spot earlier this week when he discussed his “first game of the year.” According to ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, wideout George Pickens seemed to admit the same, telling reporters that he was working overtime this week in anticipation of Wilson’s “first start.” Head coach Mike Tomlin continued to play coy this week regarding the team’s decision, although that was most likely due to gamesmanship vs. a lack of a true commitment.
Fields hasn’t necessarily been a world beater in 2024, but he has played a significant role in Pittsburgh’s 4-2 start. The former Bears first-round pick is completing a career-high 66.3 percent of his passes while achieving a 5:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Fields is also still dynamic on the ground, collecting 231 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.
Considering Wilson’s underwhelming play in recent seasons, the sudden pivot has surprised many pundits around the NFL. Dianna Russini of The Athletic went looking for an explanation, with some sources pointing to potential trade compensation as a reason for the change. If Fields gets into at least 51 percent of Pittsburgh’s offensive snaps, the Steelers will owe the Bears a fourth-round pick instead of a sixth-round pick. Russini is skeptical that Tomlin would consider this in his QB decision, but it is still notable speculation.
Russini notes that others are questioning Tomlin’s decision to have Wilson make his season debut against a tough Jets defense. A Week 8 debut against the Giants would be a much softer landing, although Russini notes that the Steelers may have had no choice but to stick with Fields if he had a solid outing tomorrow night.
Jets need to prepare for Fields. I suspect Wilson won’t last long.
Stingy Jets pass D. Does it really matter who starts and who finishes? A lot of hand offs to running backs. Time management in overdrive today. Opportune time to get Russ from some action. And agree that Justin plays too.
What a terrible decision.
Well, MAYBE the solution to a porous O line, a meh running game and receivers who can’t get open IS an older, less mobile, fairly brittle QB who hasn’t played yet this year.
A QB who is still considered a starter option after having endured over 500 sacks probably shouldn’t be labelled brittle.
Metal bends until it breaks. The more you bend it…
7 weeks to heal an injury not expected to keep him from starting the first game.
But hopefully he’s made of steel because the line is made of swiss cheese at this point.
18th in hurries
16th in knocks
13th in pressure percentage
Yeah oline a fault fields holds onto the ball too long
Maybe the reason Fields holds onto the ball too long is the same reason he had to in Chicago. None of his WR’s are ever open. I’ll wait. How’s that going to improve with Wilson who has been accused of the same thing his whole career? I’ll wait some more.
So fields can’t throw receivers open?
Do you know how to get receivers open?
1. You scheme them open which falls on Tomlin and Smith
2. Fields needs to use his eyes / athleticism to move guys open
When you’re a 1 or 2 read guy and run like Fields yeah it’s gonna look like receivers aren’t open. Fields missed many open receivers this year and Chi either because he didn’t come back to his reads or missed wide open guys.
Have you watched them?
You putting your seal of approval on that line?
I give them credit that they tried to improve it through the draft but unfortunatelyfor them injuries totally sabotaged the whole thing. I’m not Daniels biggest fan but at least he was fairly competent and Fatanu going down for the year surely didn’t help. But if they think that Wilson is going to be some kind of miracle worker then somebody in charge there needs some Electro shock, You know, Just to get them back on track.
Seen them
They’re better at pass blocking than run blocking.
Idk how they’ll fair without Frazier their C
But pass blocking they’ve looked fine. I wouldn’t say elite by any means but I’ve definitely see worse this year for sure.
The ironic thing to me was that Fields walked into the same exact situation he left in Chicago AND ASKED to be there. Poles said he turned down better offers to let him go there and now they’re trying to screw Poles out of at least the lame draft pick he would have gotten back. It doesn’t really matter to the Bears because they have enough draft picks next year and plenty of money to upgrade anyway. And that as soon as Fields left they finally got a stud bunch of WR’s he never had and a good OC to boot. We’ll never know now thanks to Carolina giving the Bears the world for one draft pick but you gotta say hmmm..maybe….? LMAO
The only way I can see this working is if they just run slants all night, 3 second throws, etc.
Lull them to sleep and then try deep.
Very bad move in Tomlin’s part or whoever’s decision this was. Reports are that a lot of Steelers are quietly showing disapproval.
This is surely to backfire. As Wilson is no more mobile than rotheliesburger was at the end.
Best scenario is that Wilson gets hurt,hoping he doesn’t, I’m not sadistic. And Fields comes in to rally the Steelers offense to a win. This ending this so called QB controversy.
Let’s at least see what Wilson can do before passing judgement. I doubt Tomlin considers either QB a long term answer so the controversy is likely to carry over to next season as well. The Steelers needed a diversion from the Rooney Rule controversy anyway.
One thing we learned is NEVER ask the Steelers to keep a secret.
Pickens gave it away on his instagram.
I think the best scenario happened tonight, proving it’s rarely worth second guessing Tomlin. They have a long leash to try anything with that Defense. Wow, was that a fun watch!
What catchphrase is he using this year?
Mike Tomlin is a good coach, not great but good and with that being said this is a bad decision putting Wilson in to start the game. Fields is a better athlete and is only going to get better and Wilson’s best days are behind him and that’s being polite. The players know that Fields is their best chance.
So the question is…how long is the leash for Wilson before they put Fields back in?
I feel like Wilson is more capable than Fields, and I still think that this is a bad decision. Fields hasn’t been good, but he hasn’t been terrible, and the Steelers are winning games. On top of that, Wilson is going to be rusty and will need time to acclimate to his teammates.
As an alternative…has anyone considered that Tomlin may be doing this to protect Fields? By throwing Wilson out against a good defense, perhaps he wards off the calls for Fields to sit. I highly doubt it-enough to feel dumb for even mentioning the possibility-but it occurred to me. Really, though, I did think that the Steelers needed to see what Wilson could do, but at this point, you hurt the offense by yanking it out of rhythm with moving off your winning quarterback. All hypotheticals aside, that’s why this decision could backfire if Wilson doesn’t absolutely show out-which might be a big ask for an aging player who hasn’t taken a regular season snap yet.
They’re doing it to keep Fields snaps down so they don’t have to up the draft pick to the Bears to a 4th rounder. That’s the ultimate in petty B.S.
I find it hard to believe the Steelers are terrified the Bears will draft another Tory Taylor but I trust Mike’s insights.
What other possible reason could the Steelers have for benching Fields? He has the same problems he had in Chicago. Bad WR’s, An OL that thanks to injuries is patchwork at best and a lousy OC. Still he has the team at 4-2 and now they’re turning to an old man who can’t run and will probably end up in the hospital. It would be awesome if when Wilson gets creamed Fields would stay on the bench and grab his hammy but he’ll swallow his pride and go out there anyway. Guy needs a HC and an OC who can figure out how to use him like Llamar did. He’s not as good as Jackson, But he just needs a team that has a brain and he can be way better than he’s been.
Another reason for benching Fields might be that he’s a QB but is a lousy passer that can’t read a defense and doesn’t know how to look for a second option. Not to mention the Steeler offense is ranked near the bottom of the league.
I agree with mike, but nsideindy is also right. As mediocre as Fields is, the team’s 4-2. It’s a big gamble to take midseason to possibly mess with that, but I think compensation could be a factor.
Really, my honest opinion is that they want to see if there’s a chance that they can get better withWilson. Fields obviously can’t execute some of the passing plays that they want. Thing is, Wilson has had a few of the same issues (holding the ball too long, lack of precision over the deep middle), so even though he has one of the best sideline deep balls in the league, there’s a good chance that he won’t execute much better. It feels to me as Pittsburgh is using this like a preseason game to see if Wilson can finish some of the plays that Fields couldn’t. If he does, the Steelers keep a pick. If not…well, needless to say, it could throw off morale at the very least.
Note-I’m not saying that Wilson WILL work out better. But I do think that a big reason for this, aside from potential compensation, is to see what Wilson can offer, if it’s any better.
He should be on a choke chain
This change reminds me of the old saying about fishing…”You don’t leave biting fish to go find biting fish “
The Steelers are winning ( Biting Fish) with Fields so now they are leaving that to go find biting fish ( Wins with Wilson).
I can only upvote “fish” comments when they relate to the Dolphins.
This should all be fine if they let Russ cook.
Yea cook his own goose
The OL, OC and WR’s still stink. How is that any better with an immobile old man? At least Fields can run and turn a negative into a positive. The sack totals should be hilarious.
This makes ZERO sense, thus it would seem Tomlin is getting manipulated from above.
Fields is a nothing burger, but better the player you know than the one you don’t.
Here’s hoping the Steelers get embarrassed in front of a National Audience.
It would be funny if Russell takes the opening snap and then Fields just plays the rest of the game. What better way to make the opposing defense waste time preparing then to tell them the starter isn’t starting so just plan for the other guy.
Lots of negative reactions here which is understandable. No clearly discernable reason to make a change when you’re 4-2. But here’s some positive thoughts just because.
The two biggest things Russ does better than Justin are accuracy and throwing better deep balls. The Jets are likely to be without DJ Reed and Michael Carter is already ruled out. So Steelers WR’s who struggle getting open are going against the bottom of the Jets depth chart at CB (except for Sauce) and more accurate throws and throwing people open could be an advantage. This offense also sorely lacks big chunk plays and is pretty terrible with play action passing. So Russ throwing a better deep ball and generally being more willing to take shots downfield could provide a spark.
Clearly in the minority here. I think Wilson makes the Steelers borderline dangerous. He had a good season last year, this defense is stellar.offense has some weapons.
He doesn’t need to be the mid 2010s Russell Wilson. If he does what he did last season, watch out for the Steelers.
For what it’s worth – fields is nowhere near the QB Wilson is, even at this stage in his career.
Nice call, that was unexpected & entertaining! I suspect better teams will adjust, but installing Wilson worked stunningly well vs the Jets. Tomlin is simply the best HC in the league (along with Reid I guess).
It was sad to watch Fields deflate as the game went on, but maybe watching the touch Wilson puts on deep passes plants a seed in his head, gets him to adjust his throwing approach.
The simple answer to this problem would have been to resign Mason Rudolph. He’s now starting for Tennessee. As of now he’s 18-23, 156 yards and a TD. He showed he was ready at the end of last year.
I remember him lighting up Pitt when he played at Oklahoma St. He never received a fair chance in Pittsburgh. From rotheilisberger complaining about drafting him, then not helping him. To Tomlin’s mishandling of him when rotheilisberger got hurt and replacing him with a duck. Hmmm sounds like Tomlin’s doing again with Wilson
And then there was the local sports media idiots who all bout beat his career into the ground. And they turn around and do the same thing to Pickett. Now the morons in the local sports media are mostly all calling for Wilson while the national media is calling it a foolish move.
Good luck with Tennessee, Mason