Mike Tomlin Announces Russell Wilson to Start at QB Week 1
Head Coach Mike Tomlin spoke with the media yesterday to officially announce that Russell Wilson will be QB1 to start the regular season.
The national media is out in droves today reacting to this news as if it’s groundbreaking, but Steelers fans shouldn’t be surprised at all. The writing was on the wall after Russell Wilson was pulled from the Lions preseason game having only thrown two passes.
I will, however, commend the national media for one thing: I think many of them are correct that this was never a QB competition to begin with. Russell Wilson missed almost all of training camp with a lingering calf injury, and Justin Field played some great ball during that span. Also, I know the first team offense balled out against the Lions, but if you consider the preseason as a whole, I think Justin Fields outplayed Russell Wilson in that respect as well. If it was truly a QB competition, I think Justin Fields would have gotten the nod for our first game against the Falcons.
With that being said, I understand why Fields isn’t the starter. Russell Wilson has a near Hall Of Fame resume, and he protects the football vastly better than Justin Fields does. I think Justin Fields’ ceiling is in another stratosphere, but Russell Wilson’s floor is significantly higher than Fields’ is. Wilson is the safe move at QB1, and I’m not upset about it. Also, I think Russell Wilson has that resume to fall back on if he gets benched, whereas if you were to bench Justin Fields after giving him the starting job, that could absolutely crush his confidence and force him out of Pittsburgh next year.
Coach Tomlin called the decision to name Russ the starter a difficult one, which is hardly a surprise considering Fields lowkey won the job in my opinion. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not Russell Wilson has a firm grasp of this offense at this point. When asked about that, Mike Tomlin had this to say: “To characterize anything at this juncture as complete…is inappropriate.” Basically, Coach Tomlin is saying we expect to see that improve as Russ gets some games under his belt.
Mike Tomlin also expressed a willingness to use Justin Fields in “package football” to utilize his skill set, adding it’s “something we’re open to weaponizing”. I can imagine some really fun formations near the goal line to confuse defenses and score touchdowns.
As I said yesterday, I have some real concerns about the offensive line heading into the regular season. I don’t care who we have at QB, it’s going to take some real mental and physical fortitude to be able to be effective on offense if the line comes out flat; especially with a guy like Russell Wilson who has the reputation of holding the ball too long. Hopefully, our offensive line getting healthy and Russell Wilson getting a solid grasp of the offense happens simultaneously, but that’s a tall task. However, I have faith that our defense will keep us competitive in the meantime.
So, we have our 53-man roster, and we know who QB1 is. The stairway to seven starts on September 8th against the Atlanta Falcons. One more peaceful week before the chaos of Pittsburgh Steelers football takes over my life. I love it.
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