The Pittsburgh Steelers are at all times frightened concerning the current. Mike Tomlin has talked about him owing the present workforce his undivided consideration, and making an attempt to make choices as the top coach which might be geared towards the longer term can be doing his present group a disservice. That’s the reason Russell Wilson at all times made essentially the most sense to be the Steelers’ beginning quarterback.
It’s the entrance workplace’s job to look forward and have a unfastened plan for a way the workforce needs to be constructed with one eye on the longer term. That may be why we’ve got heard from Dianna Russini, Albert Breer, and others that there are folks inside the group who had been pushing for Justin Fields to begin. Being a decade youthful than Wilson, his emergence as a long-term choice would make the way forward for the workforce loads clearer.
“What it really did, is it paved the way in which for Mike Tomlin to decide with out making a call,” ESPN’s Mike Greenberg mentioned on Get Up this morning concerning the quarterback dilemma in Pittsburgh. “It’s virtually the perfect of all potential eventualities.”
Throughout his Tuesday press convention, Tomlin mentioned they’re getting ready as if Fields is the beginning quarterback for Week 2. He received the workforce a win in Week 1, and though he didn’t lead any landing drives, he executed the sport plan effectively with clear soccer, no turnovers, and a few well-timed photographs down area.
If the Steelers can proceed to get a take a look at Fields whereas the workforce continues to be profitable, with out sacrificing something within the short-term, that may very well be the right state of affairs in Pittsburgh.
Neither Wilson nor Fields are beneath contract past the 2024 season. There are a selection of the way this might play out. If Wilson has an excellent yr, he may make himself too costly for the workforce to be snug with a long-term extension at his age. There was a potential actuality through which Wilson was wholesome the entire season, which might have made evaluating Fields as a long-term choice much more tough.
This might be his first full week of follow getting ready because the starter. That permits Arthur Smith extra time to formulate a sport plan than per week in the past. Hopefully that plan entails extra photographs in the course of the sphere, the place Fields didn’t throw a single time in Week 1.
If he exhibits progress over his Week 1 efficiency, then that’s loads of nice information for Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan, and the opposite Steelers choice makers to base their future plans on.