At the conclusion of one final practice before the team takes a four-day siesta ahead of their preparation for the Falcons in Week 1 of the regular season, Mike Tomlin made official what we've already known for months: Russell Wilson will be his starting quarterback.
Anyone who's paid attention to this quarterback competition -- and I use that term loosely -- already knew this was coming, although Tomlin said Wednesday afternoon that the decision was difficult.
"It was difficult in a positive way," Tomlin said outside the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "The decision was difficult because of what they're capable of doing. The decision was difficult because of how they've conducted themselves, as opposed to the things that they fall short in, in terms of capabilities or negative conduct. Both guys have been really professional. I've been really excited about getting to know them and their games and having the ability to analyze what both are capable of bringing."
When Tomlin speaks, you have to learn how to properly decipher what he's saying. When asked specifically how long ago Tomlin made the decision to go with Wilson, he replied, "We made the decision today, I revealed it to them today."
Then, Tomlin followed that by saying, "All other elements of it are moot, really."
An acknowledgement of "other elements." So, let's go back to the beginning of this entire situation, and once all the elements stack up, it's not so hard to read the tea leaves to see that Wilson was the obvious choice here. And it had nothing to do with Justin Fields not being good enough. In fact, Tomlin spoke very highly of Fields Wednesday afternoon.
"His athleticism is freaky," Tomlin said of Fields. "I've seen the highlights and things of that nature, but being an AFC coach, you don't always get a chance to feel it or really pay attention to it. To see some of the things he's capable of doing on the football field is really exciting."
Tomlin also said that Fields being part of special packages is "certainly on the table."
But ever since Wilson even met with the Steelers, which was a Friday afternoon in early March, the preference for the 12-year veteran was clear. After Wilson signed, the message to both players was there'd be a competition. However, Kenny Pickett obviously didn't believe them and requested a trade.
We can sit here and tear Pickett apart. Anyone who's read my analysis of Pickett knows how I felt about his play and my hesitation to believe he could grow out of certain flaws that would limit him. But think of this from the Steelers' standpoint: Pickett was a first-round pick just two years prior. He still had two more seasons on his rookie contract, plus a potential fifth-year option. This organization doesn't just give up on first-rounders that early.
Thus, something had to happen internally to spook Pickett into think he had zero shot of being the starter. And, lo and behold, almost immediately after the Steelers traded Pickett to the Eagles and acquired Fields from the Bears, Tomlin intentionally got out in front of everything and deemed Wilson having "pole position" for the starting job.
In other words, Wilson would have to absolutely crap the bed while Fields took massive strides forward in order for Fields to have a legitimate shot at winning the job.
Now, Wilson didn't do such a thing during training camp, but the calf injury he suffered the day players reported to Saint Vincent College threw a monkey wrench into this faux quarterback competition -- so much so that people genuinely thought that Fields could show what he was capable of with the starting offense and convince Tomlin to give him the QB1 status.
But, once again, listen to what Tomlin had to say regarding Wilson's participation in practice:
"A lot of work got done in the practice setting," Tomlin said. "You guys come to our practices. They're intense, and they're intense by design, because we’ve got to know. I hate speculation. It's a football-like environment. We try to make it as football-like as we can. And I saw enough to be comfortable, certainly."
Hmm. "Saw enough to be comfortable."
Wilson really didn't start taking meaningful reps in training camp until the final week. In the preseason, he sat out the first game, played five awful series in the second game and played one productive series in the third game. Not exactly the most inspiring play.
When a head coach doesn't need to see a lot of a specific quarterback, that pretty much tells you everything you need to know. That's starting quarterback treatment.
Then if that's not enough to convince you, I reported in my latest contribution to Friday Insider that the Steelers have been so impressed with Wilson that they've already considered him for a contract extension after the upcoming season. If there Wilson was truly in danger of not being named the starting quarterback, there's no way the organization would already be possibly putting Wilson into their plans beyond 2024. And, they're at this spot with Wilson despite not really having to prove much on the practice field.
Now, this doesn't mean Fields has zero shot of seeing the Field or that Wilson has some level of autonomy that he's never in danger of losing his spot. Tomlin was clear that Fields will be "weaponized" in this offense. So, he's not just going to be holding a clipboard on Sunday afternoons.
Plus, and this is ultimately the most important thing for this season, the urgency to win will dictate whether or not Wilson keeps his job or does enough to earn an extension. It won't be a short enough leash in which an 0-2 start will cause Tomlin to hit the panic button. But, if Wilson can't lead this team to wins and he's a reason why, Tomlin will make the switch.
As always, winning is the ultimate decider in these situations. That's what happened when Pickett supplanted Mitch Trubisky in 2022. That's what happened when Mason Rudolph supplanted both Pickett and Trubisky at the end of last season. Winning talks.
For now, Tomlin's betting on Wilson to be the guy that can lead them to more notches in the win column. And that's been the plan from the beginning.
