FIELDS A STEELER

I can blame him because so far he hasn't shown enough to be the out and out starter. And I was really rooting for him to do so.

In the same way, I blamed Ben when he had issues with Mason being drafted, because he WAS the out and out starter and should have been comfortable with that.

I'm not sure it's true that there's no competition for the starting job. Tomlin could well mean Wilson is the no.1, because somebody has to be; and someone needs to take the first team reps in practice.

 

When you're in the kitchen, you cook with what you have.
Wilson/Fileds is what we have.

I saw the post, I think Blast Furnace posted...
"Since 1950, there have been 2 quarterbacks to improve year to year in each of these categories over their first 3 NFL seasons: -Wins -Pass yards -Completion percentage -Interception percentage -Passer rating.
Josh Allen Justin Fields"

I thought at first, "This can't be so. All 'Franchise QB's' get better, that's why they are Franchise QB's."
A Quick snapshot - He was in a putrid offense, though not as bad as Matt Canada, but still bad.
21 - they finished 6-10: This was the year Nagy was fired after a spiraling down each season. Fields won the starting job of Andy Dalton.
22 - they finished 3-14: Matt Eberflus takes over and the team is just bad... ending with the 10 game losing streak which extends 4 games into 23.
23 - they finished 7-10: Luke Getsy gets fired with Matt saying "growth and the development of the offense...needed to be better than where it was." He basically fired the offensive staff and rebuilt it for 2024.

Fields is athletic and can run the ball as evidenced in 2022 where he had 1,000+ yards. That's not what you want a QB to do and a record of 3-10 doesn't justify that it was a good thing by any means.
In 23 they did improve, and Justin seems to have limited his dumb throws but his TD to Int rate is about the same.
As a backup, if our coaching is any good, they can work him to make better decisions without having the pressure of game preps as a starter.
Stats can say anything, and they've minded some stats that say he's most successful with Play-Action which plays well in Aurthur Smith's offensive design.
He can run the ball, which Aurthur Smith's offense is adapting to.
What I like, even though I dislike Russell Wilson, is that Wilson's strong point is being able to extend plays. He is the original Mahomes as in the early days he could pull off a Fran Tarkington impression scrambling all over the field and launch a perfect bomb for a TD. Fields should take notes on this as his speed is unquestionable and Wilson would be a good benchmark for how to use that to his advantage.

 

I'm not sure if this is sarcasm or if my point flew over your head.

You and others can stick the fanboy thing somewhere uncomfortable. I didn't want them to draft him. I never said he was great, just that I thought it was worth giving him another shot and that people were falling for the fool's gold of three games out of six years of Rudolph's career. As soon as they dealt him, I labeled taking Pickett in the first round a bust.

That said, I'm not falling for the team leaking things to try to make themselves look better. You are.

 

Essentially you want Fields to get better at Sandlot football because he is too inconsistent to be a pocket passer. Not going to happen. It's even more difficult to be accurate when you are moving and are throwing to a moving target. Russell moved around because he was too short, and he was always accurate as a pocket passer. Big Ben was also accurate as a pocket passer. There's a reason we got Fields for a sixth round pick.

 

I'm not sure about that.
The evaluation from the Steelers brass agreed with what some statistician said, which wasn't my evaluation.
They said Fields has a higher percents of success on play-action than other plays. They even said he was better at it.

From my point of view, using Lamar Jackson...
Defenses know that to shut Jackson down, you build a fence around him and force him to throw from the pocket. They don't let him get out of the pocket.
Jackson is best when playing sandlot.

From my point of view, I have been very vocal about my dislike of Fields and what a disastrous deal they've made.
I am putting that aside.
Aurthur Smith and the Steelers brass are planning exactly as I laid out, it is from their very words.
As pointed out, Fields is a fumble machine when he runs, yes he ran for a 1,000 yard+ but he coughed up the football a LOT.
Smith will use Wilson's decision making to try to harness Fields abilities. He wants to improve when he runs, the quality.
Fields is 6'3" which does help him see the field better and get the ball over defenders.

They got what they wanted... I cannot assign a success rate for what they want to do.
- Train Fields to be patient, take what the defense gives.
- Use his speed smarter.
- Improve his passing from the pocket.

Some here will pass out if I said that Fields will fail.
But if we understand the process and Fields proves to be successful or he fails, the proof is undeniable truth.
I'm giving him the same concessions I gave Pickett.

 

I was against trading for Fields because I thought it would cost the Steelers something like this year's round 2 and next year's round 4 picks. But since we got him for only a 6th round pick then heck yeah he is worth the trade. He has good size, a strong arm and is incredibly fast. Someone with that much talent is worth a 6th round gamble.

 

Pickett is weak minded - adversity makes a man stronger....or REVEALS his weakness. in this case, we see that Pickett is weak. This is the NFL - not some private business , corporate America.

He won't make it in the NFL.

trust me.

he is a product of this current entitlement generation.

 

Oh jeez. I'm just as frustrated with GenZ as you are, but keep the damn politics to yourself.

 

politics?

What was political about what I said - I see I hit a nerve without even mentioning Joe Biden!

LOL!!!!

 

The ESPN "Get Up" panel was saying yesterday that Pickett has to realize that there is no transfer portal in the NFL. He is treating his profession like he was a college QB and wanting out if he doesn't get the playing time he wants.

 

I read your post over 3 times to try and find something political in it but didn't see a darn thing even close to a political statement.

 

The most important natural gifts for a quarterback are the ones they have between the ears. They have to be intelligent. They have to be able to process things quickly. They have to be able to focus and make quick decisions when the pocket is collapsing around them. They have to be able to maintain that focus and find their best when the game is on the line and the pressure is on. Fields has not shown he has those gifts. He does not process things quickly enough and he is at his worst with the game on the line.

 

Sucker.

 

Mango Jesus

 

He has done a lot of damage to his own reputation and is now widely perceived as a quitter who is afraid of competition. Whether that's fair or not, I don't know, but that is the perception. He would have been better off staying put and fighting for whatever role the Steelers had in mind for him. He would have eventually gotten another shot to start for the Steelers. But, who knows?

 

His cousin touchdown Jesus

In a Steeler bar by the Vatican

 

No, leaks from the team and false narratives in the media did that.

 

Why? MikeyG started it.

<mod edit> Take political provocation to another site.

 

Kenny has no one to blame but himself for the negative reputational perception he now has. He has handled multiple situations poorly since the end of last season. Some of it we saw and heard and some of it has been reported by folks that have more access to the team than we do. It doesn't have to be a career killer for him, but he needs to learn that he's entitled to nothing in this league.

 

Have a thick skin. Rise up to the competition. Be willing to earn everything, not expect gifts. Don't quit on your teammates.