If the Pittsburgh Steelers coaches were hoping to use Saturday’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills as an evaluation tool for the quarterback position, things didn’t go according to plan.
The Steelers basically split the game between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields and the results were laughable. 139 passing yards and zero three points is not what we expected after the front office completely re-tooled the quarterback depth chart.
Now head coach Mike Tomlin has to use what he saw as what we assume is a big part of the evaluation process for which of these two quarterbacks will start in the regular season.
At this point, head coach Mike Tomlin might not pick the quarterback who can best run the Steelers offense and instead pick the quarterback he thinks can survive it. Wilson was sacked three times in his each of his first three drives on Saturday and it is clear the offensive line is still very much a work in progress.
If this is the direction Tomlin goes in, Fields and his athleticism seem like a much better fit for this offense. Fields’ escapability and running ability give him an edge over Wilson. Is this enough?
The Steelers offense was supposed to turn the corner this season with a new quarterback depth chart and more additions to the offensive line. Through two preseason games, the Steelers offense actually looks much worse than last season, which is really saying something.
We’d like to see Fields get a shot as the starter with an offense focused on using his athleticism and trying to minimize the shortcomings of an offensive line that is clearly not ready to compete.
