This is the first of several articles that will examine the Steelers by position ahead of their training camp in 2024, which begins on July 24 at Saint Vincent College. Presently: The quarterbacks
Players (4): Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, Kyle Allen, John Rhys Plumlee
Never look a gift horse in the mouth. It’s an age-old proverb, but it remains true to this day. I’s appropriate when looking at the Steelers’ quarterback position for 2024.
Gone are Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph. In are Russel Wilson, Justin Fields, Kyle Allen and John Rhys Plumlee. And the Steelers did so at minimal cost in both salary cap space and draft capital.
Even Steelers GM Omar Khan was surprised the Steelers were able to acquire both Wilson and Fields, in particular, this offseason.
About both of those players, I’m thrilled. “I’m surprised that both of them are such excellent quarterbacks,” Khan remarked in March during the league meeting. “You know, if you had told me a month ago, when we spoke in Indianapolis, that we would be sitting here a month later, with Justin Fields and Russell Wilson starting at quarterback, I would have laughed. To be honest, I would be a little taken aback. Yes.
Nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback Wilson had spent the previous two seasons in Denver following ten years in Seattle, where he had guided the team to one Super Bowl victory and two postseason appearances.
He enters training camp in “pole position,” as head coach Mike Tomlin has put it multiple times, to be the team’s starting quarterback in 2024.
Wilson had a disappointing season in Denver in 2022, but he rebounded in 2023, throwing for 3,070 yards with 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 15 games while completing 66.4 percent of his passes.
However, he didn’t mesh with Sean Payton’s offense as the new head coach, and in an attempt to save money, Payton benched him toward the end of the season, which resulted in his release. Wilson’s 2023 touchdown pass total of 26 was precisely twice that of the 13 touchdown passes the Steelers quarterbacks completed the previous season.
Additionally, Wilson’s style of playmaking should complement the ball-control, play-action passing approach that Arthur Smith, the team’s new offensive coordinator, is trying to implement.
He immediately stepped into a leadership role with the Steelers, taking ownership of the offense and working with the team’s receivers.
Fields gives the Steelers perhaps the best No. 2 option in the NFL – or at least the most explosive No. 2 option.
A former first-round pick of the Bears, he became expendable in Chicago because the Bears held the No. 1-overall pick in this year’s draft and chose to turn to Caleb Williams at quarterback, thus resetting the clock on having to pay a young signal caller big money.
In three seasons as Chicago’s starter, Fields saw his completion percentage increase every season from 58.9 as a rookie to 61.4 percent last season. He threw for just over 2,500 yards with 16 touchdown passes and nine interceptions last season in 13 games, all of them starts.
After rushing for more than 1,100 yards in 2022, he ran less in 2023 but still had 657 yards on the ground. He remains one of the league’s most dangerous players, regardless of position, with the ball in his hands.
Still just 25, the book on Fields has yet to be written.
Allen has 19 starts in his six-year career and has thrown for over 4,000 yards with 26 touchdown passes against 21 interceptions.
Plumlee was signed as an undrafted rookie after spending time at both Ole Miss and Central Florida.
A scrambler, Plumlee has some talent and though he lacks ideal size at 6-foot, 200 pounds, his skill sets match up well with those of Wilson and Fields, both very capable runners in their own right.
