The Pittsburgh Steelers made the right decision by playing Russell Wilson at quarterback during the 2024 season. They also should play Justin Fields in 2025, given the option between the two incumbents at quarterback.
How does that make any sense?
Wilson was given pole position between the two players coming into the 2024 season, and that made sense. Wilson had been by far the more productive player in each of the three seasons they shared in the NFL, and that came after he’d gone to eight Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl.
When Wilson was hurt in training camp, it made sense for the Steelers to have faith that Wilson would again eventually be the better player, and he was, albeit by the end of the season, just barely.
Two things happened that should change the outlook for the Steelers going forward: Fields played the best football of his career and Wilson fell apart down the stretch.
Through his three tumultuous seasons as the starting quarterback of the Chicago Bears, Fields went through two head coaches, two offensive coordinators, and three different starting wide receivers opposite lone stalwart Darnell Mooney. About the only constant was Fields turning the ball over.
In three seasons, Fields threw 30 interceptions — 10 in 2021, 11 in 2022 and nine in 2023 — and he also fumbled the ball 38 times, losing 11 of them. That’s 41 turnovers in 38 starts — not a winning ratio.
There are things that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has shown to be able to tolerate when it comes to less-than-ideal quarterback play, but carelessness with the football is not one of them. If Fields was ever going to have a chance to stick as the Steelers’ quarterback, he was going to have to learn how to play while taking better care of the ball.
In 2024, he did that at a very high level. Fields threw one interception on 161 passing attempts this season. That tied Jacoby Brissett and Justin Herbert for the best interception rate in the NFL at 0.6% of his passing attempts. He also lost one fumble, giving him two giveaways in six games — a third of previous rate.
The turnovers were the biggest negative in Fields’ play, and he cleaned them up in a big way. There are others. He still holds onto the football far too long — his 3.04 second average time-to-throw as the fourth-longest in the league this season — and he doesn’t have the same touch on his deep ball that Wilson has.
But there is a lot to like about a Fields-led team, as well. On October 19, the day before Wilson took over as the team’s starting quarterback, the Steelers were tied for 20th in the NFL with a 50% touchdown rate from the red zone. They finished the season 29th with a 48.21%. Neither are good, but Fields was clearly better in that critical area of the field.
That drawback could’ve been overlooked when Wilson first took the reins. He was playing well and the Steelers were winning. Wilson had over 200 yards passing in five of his first six games as starting quarterback. In his six games as the starter, Fields had managed it just twice — and only once in a win.
But Wilson fell apart down the stretch run. He handover 200 yards passing in just two of the Steelers’ final five regular-season games. He also started turning the ball over more, with four of his nine turnovers on the season coming in the final four weeks. In the final two weeks of the regular season, he posted passer ratings of 65.7 and 78.4 while taking nine sacks.
It sure looked like the 36-year-old ran out of steam down the stretch run of the season, and that came after missing the first six games. If he couldn’t close out a season strong at 36, why should he be expected to do it at 37 in 2025?
Wilson was the right play for the Steelers in 2024. He had been the better quarterback coming into the season and he was the better quarterback this season. But the difference was a lot narrowed than expected, and Wilson’s skills are declining while Fields played the best ball of his career.
If the Steelers’ starting quarterback in 2025 comes down to a decision between Wilson and Fields — and it sure looks like it, given the paucity of external upgrades — it has to be Fields going forward.
