QB battle

Fields has shown that he can be a driving force behind making an offense successful. He just lacks the consistency to be considered a high quality NFL starter at the moment. There's still a chance he can develop that, but we will only see in time. Pickett was never the driving force of the offense. He was a passenger on an offense that couldn't score. Fields at least has shown the ability to throw TD passes and help his offense score points. This is all simply as "just a passer" too. The running aspect is just an addition. Fields has gotten better every year... It looks to be continuing. Hopefully Fields continues his great showing in the preseason and into the regular season if he gets the chance to start. Pickett has gotten.... worse, it seems.

I think Fields' ceiling is a quality NFL starter. I don't think Pickett's ceiling is starting caliber anymore. He hasn't shown he can be the reason why an offense succeeds, and it is likely that he never will. Can he come in and play a few games without making egregious turnovers? Sure. Can he win a few games in a pinch? Yeah, if the defense holds the opposition to 17 points or less. He is an NFL career back up.

 

I think you have to look at Wilson at this stage of his career. 5 years ago Wilson was a top 5 QB. Today, he is just more limited than he was... he can still be good, but not quite what he one was.

Wilson - Floor above Fields, Ceiling below Fields
Fields - Floor below Wilson, Ceiling above Wilson (2024 version obviously)
Pickett - Floor and ceiling below Fields.

I don't think Pickett was a good decision maker. Simply not throwing an INT doesn't make you a good decision maker. He didn't throw the ball because he didn't know what to do with it and was afraid to throw the pick. Pickett scrambled out of clean pockets into pressure and missed wide open guys because he couldn't get through his progressions. You have to remember that both his on target % and bad throw percentage were worse than Fields in 2023. Fields actually was similar to Lamar in both categories. Now, its not like Fields was a high performer in either category either, but its not like Pickett is some high ceiling player. We view Fields as a runner who is not a good thrower, yet purely as a passer he was already superior to Pickett in 2023.

Fields is slightly more accurate than Pickett, but has the upside of his legs. He is a player on the rise (gotten better every year in the league), and has the potential to be better on a good team that builds the offense around his strengths. I don't see how any aspect of Kenny's game makes anyone think his ceiling is higher than Fields. Truly his floor isn't better than Fields. Both can play some ugly ball. Fields can just be the driving force behind an offenses success and Kenny has never shown that.

 

One thing that I will say about Pickett is that at least on the short passes, he has done well. I don't know if this is due to his conservatism or his short-range accuracy. When he was injured last season, he had the current NFL streak for passes without an interception. I think he was a little bit over 200 at the time. Then he was injured and has not played since. So quite ironically, Kenny might still be sitting on the current NFL streak for interception-free passes. But it's a hard stat to find to see if that's still the case....... I find that ironically funny for a guy that might be sliding into the QB3 spot.

 

Can't wait for Friday night. Hope to hell it's televised in my area. I'm assuming Fields will start?

Shoot. It won't be in my area. Damn Eagles playing same time;(

 

I think you're right. I'd like to see some preseason games before we make that decision, as I don't think a couple weeks of practice makes Fields the guy.... however, if Fields keeps impressing and goes into the season with this much momentum or more, I don't see how you can sit him. Fields is still 25. He can have a good 8-10 years of starting left in him. Wilson has a year or two and that's it. Sometimes you have to make a decision based on your future and see what Fields has if he earns it.

I also think we start the season with Moore at LT and Herbig at C no matter what the rookies do. Tomlin has never shown himself to be great with personnel decisions and talent evaluations.

 

I can agree with this. I see Wilson as a known quantity who's going to give you a product at a certain level. But he's mid-thirties and that's getting up there for quarterback. Only the cream of the crop seems to last into the higher thirties as a starter and I don't think Wilson is going to be that guy.

Pickett has some issues with reading the field, the deep ball, and staying in the pocket. You can train the pocket issues. You can work on the deep ball a little bit, but arm strength is what it is. But I don't know that you can train seeing the field into a quarterback that doesn't already have that skill. To me that means that his ceiling is below that of a lot of other quarterbacks.

Fields obviously does not have the experience in leadership skills that Wilson has. But those are things that can come with time. He also has youth and a good run game for a quarterback. None of the issues that fields have are something that can't be improved.

So, to sum it all up. Wilson is facing age and Kenny can't read the field. Those are both issues that really can't be avoided or improved on very well. Fields also has some issues, but his are all of a variety that can be improved in my opinion.

 

Cant throw a pick if you're afraid to throw it past the line of scrimmage. His inability to successfully move an offense down the field and score points is why he might not be an NFL QB2, not because he threw a bunch of picks.

 

I mean, guys that can't complete balls at a high rate less than 10 yards downfield generally don't get to the NFL, let alone start games in the NFL. It is also increasingly hard to throw a pick on passes less than 10 yards downfield.... Guys usually throw picks trying to push the ball downfield. Kenny's inability to do anything other than check into short throws is why he is a back up. Not because he threw a bunch of picks.

 

I don't know about that. The sports shows on ESPN and FS1 have been hyping Fields over Wilson quite a bit. Speak and Get Up are examples.

I'm indifferent about Fields. He didn't really show franchise QB ability in Chicago. I do believe he can be a good backup and stop gap QB until we can draft a QB sometime in the mid 2020's. Maybe I'm wrong? We'll see.

 

That is a pretty crazy chart. Without counting up the dots for accuracy, I would say that 80% or more of his passes are less than 10 yards. If I counted right on the longer attempts, 8 completions out of 26 attempts for 15 yards+ passes (31% completed). I guess you get a great no interception rate when the vast majority of your passes are pretty much an overhand handoff to the nearest guy.

 

It is really crazy. So many of those throws were 5 yards downfield or less. Many behind the LoS too. I'm hoping Arthur Smith is able to get Fields or Wilson to be able to push the ball downfield a bit more.

 

You can see below,the average air yards per pass attempts

2023 NFL Advanced Passing | Pro-Football-Reference.com

We see very good QB at the bottom of this list like Mahomes, Burrow, Goff but it also depends on several factors, like how the opposing defenses play against you, the scheme and other reasons

Having a low air yards per pass attempts is not a huge deal but a QB must be able to make a big play when the opponent removes the short stuff and thing like that, which Roethlisberger at the end of his career was unable to do, same thing for Pickett

 

Certainly, but I think you see the overall lack of success past 5 yards and that is the scary part. I get that they are lower percentage throws, but there were plenty of opportunities and they were just missed. It's what separates the guys that make it and the guys that don't.

 

Mahomes certainly wasn't at the top of any of those lists in years prior either, but his intended air yards per pass attempt went way down last year (he was at 7.2 and 7.4 the years prior, but 6.5 in 2023). Might've had something to do with his WR corps suffering a bit. KC's system definitely leaves for less air yards per attempt, but if a play can be made downfield, it is made.

 

I can't recall a single former Steelers QB who went on to do anything in the NFL other than hold a clipboard. The Steelers haven't been good at drafting, acquiring, or developing QB talent with Ben and TB being the obvious exceptions. Nobody really wants our throw away QBs.

 

there are no fanboys here. I wanted us to go get Fields in the off-season.......until I saw that we grabbed Wilson. Wilson can help us NOW, in 2024 - I believe - more than Fields. I hope we have 2 QBs that are NFL ready come Sept 1.

not too complicated to see that.

You seem to think that Wilson is 39, and playing in a wheelchair. He is not. He will have a SOLID running game and improved OLINE.

He can throw and read a defense.

I don't want an On The Job QB this year. We in fact may have to rebuild next year, in that case - Fields would be my choice over a ROOKIE b/c we are not getting a Top 10 QB pick. Fields for 2025 sounds decent. Khan will not overpay for Wilson. he is not the DUMMY that Colbert and Tomlin were.

 

.... Time to see what Fields can really do against the 1s... should he get the chance...

https://x.com/Cody_Stoots/status/1820498879844057158


Should Russell Wilson get those snaps?! Gonna see Russ first.

 

Jim Miller had some decent years at QB for Bears after wiping out with the Steelers in '96.

 

Didn't Josh Dobbs have some success just last season?