Is it Realistic for Justin Fields to Ascend in Pittsburgh?
Credit: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports
Justin Fields hopes a fresh start with the Pittsburgh Steelers is all he needs to reach his full potential in the NFL. Will it be enough to revive his stock after he sputtered with the Chicago Bears? Is it realistic to believe that Pittsburgh is where he’ll ascend his career?
Since 2007, Mike Tomlin has been in charge of the Steelers, and during that time, he has always been consistent about a few things: he’s a player’s coach and loyal to those players, sometimes to a fault. Tomlin finds players he likes and continues to run them out onto the field, even when they probably shouldn’t be there.
It’s one of the reasons why the Steelers had to bring in Fields and Russell Wilson to try and fix the quarterback room this offseason. When they drafted Kenny Pickett, they didn’t have a backup plan if he didn’t work out. For far too long, Tomlin decided that Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky, or Mason Rudolph could be the answer.
Even though Pickett didn’t have what it took to lead the Steelers to the promised land, the Steelers moving on from him after last offseason could give Fields some hope that he might get a shot in Pittsburgh. There were some rumblings about whether Tomlin would even continue as the Steelers coach. Had it been earlier in his coaching career when he had more job security, it wouldn’t have been shocking to see Pickett back leading the team in 2024. But with Tomlin’s seat as hot as it’s ever been, Pittsburgh moved on.
Tomlin and the Steelers traded a conditional sixth-round pick to the Chicago Bears in return for the former 11th overall pick. During the NFL Annual Meetings earlier in the offseason, Tomlin gushed about the type of player Fields could be in the Black and Yellow.
“He oozes talent and potential,” Tomlin said on the second day of the NFL annual meetings. “He’s worn the responsibility of being a franchise quarterback. Still, he gets an opportunity to come into a community-like situation and gets to learn from a guy who has been doing it for over a decade. Man, there is a lot of meat left on that bone. I’m just excited about working to be a part of extracting it.”
Fields’ time with the Bears showed some of those signs of promise but also a ton of inconsistency. His passing was always a bit spotty, but his abilities with his legs made him a difference-maker. During the 2022 season, he rushed for 1,143 yards, and that part of his game is still intact.
Fields is listed behind Russell Wilson on the depth chart heading into training camp, but an impressive training camp and preseason could be enough to steal the starting job. Everyone knows the talent is there, but his passing game must be more consistent. Last season, there were games where he was dynamic through the air, but he would follow that up with games where it seemed he couldn’t find his way out of a paper bag passing the ball.
In 2023 in the Windy City, Fields completed 61.4 percent of his passes for 2,562 yards, 16 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Fields might be working uphill because of some question marks about his wide receiver room. The talent is young, though, and if he can get on the same page as Van Jefferson and Roman Wilson, that could boost him in the training camp battle.
Tomlin has always been loyal to the veterans, and although Wilson hasn’t ever been on his team, the former Super Bowl Champion is going to get the deference in these kinds of competitions.
Still, there’s room for Fields to impress in film study and on the field in the preseason. If he manages to win the job sometime this year, Tomlin’s loyalty could help the former Ohio State Buckeye. With Fields’ history of up-and-down play, he can’t have a team or coaching staff that is going to move on from him after one bad start.
If the partnership is going to work out for both sides, Fields will need to play well, but the Steelers will also need to give him opportunities and give him the space to work through his struggles. If it’s a situation in 2024 where Fields and Wilson end up going back and forth as starters, it won’t help, and his development will probably be set back even further. The Steelers and Fields are a partnership that can work long-term; both sides just need to be willing to deal with the growing pains.
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