My thoughts on our roster....... Quarterbacks

Who would you like mentoring our 2026 QB draft pick?
Russ Wilson or Justin Fields. I think this should be enough said.
Wilson is not going to win us a superbowl with this roster anyways , 2 years @35 million total
take it or walk. His job in that 2nd year is to mentor QB.

 

I agree with SGSteeler in that we lost a good bit of growth opportunity and evaluation of Justin Fields when we switched to Russell Wilson. It's not like we weren't winning. We were so it would have been beneficial to ride the wave with Fields and see if we could develop him into our longterm answer at QB. Instead we threw in 36yo Wilson. While it went well at first, as we were playing weaker teams, that changed when we went up against competant teams. We saw how that played out going 0/5 and our offense looked lackluster. When the deep ball isn't working for Wilson, he doesn't offer much else now. Teams started playing 2 high safeties and he struggled, and so did the offense. Now we are going into the off season and don't have a real answer at QB. Personally, I'd sign Fields to a 2-3 yr deal, and draft a QB 2nd or 3rd round unless one drops in 1st round. See if Fields learned anything sitting behind Wilson this past year.

 

Draft pick order is going to prevent us from getting a top pick or a top QB. This year's order:

Titans, Browns, Giants, Patriots, Jaguars, Raiders, Jets. That is 5 out of the top 7 teams in desperate need of a QB. Maybe we could trade for a number 4 or 5 pick, but we are not getting in the top 3 and they all need quarterbacks.

 

This will be the issue for the foreseeable future.

The bottom line is there are 32 teams in the NFL and there are not 32 franchise QB's in the league at any given time.

 

Weird. Dunno why Sam Darnold was typed in twice. Could have sworn I deleted that.

 

I know you don't, but I think the Steelers made it very clear they don't believe in Fields as a long-term option. They didn't need to see more of him to know that.

 

We all need to get this through our heads: Steelers are not going to have a franchise QB until 2026 at the earliest. It may not even happen then.

The '25 draft has only 2 QBs worth drafting in the first round and they will be long gone before Steelers pick at 20.

We can do a lot worse than Justin Fields and/or Russell Wilson. I say sign one of them to 2 years and draft a QB in '26.

 

Maybe they should trade up for a gunslinger like Jaxson Dart.

 

I thought you were joking.

There really is a QB named Jaxson Dart.

 

There is and he was getting a great deal of hype early in the season.

 

If either Fields or Wilson are starters in 2025, the only advantage is improving the 2026 draft position. Our defense is getting older and wearing out from years of horrid offense. I don't think the team that looked like Buttercream Cupcakes last weekend is pulling off a Wildcard appearance next season.

This team must have an effective deep passer because we aren't tough in the trenches and can't run the ball. Our defense is getting older and wearing out from years of horrid offense. That isn't Fields and Wilson is washed.

 

You're not exactly going out on a limb here.

At the risk of sounding like just another person lining up to take shots at the coaching right now, with respect to Fields I don't know that it would've mattered much one way or the other. Can this organization develop a QB currently? Over his six starts Fields did show improvement in a number of categories over his time in Chicago, but was still painful to watch when it came to deciphering the defense and making decisive throws.

But was some of that due to a conservative approach imparted by the coaching staff? It's speculation, but Pickett sure seemed trigger-shy until the game was on the line late, then looked pretty good. And Tomlin brought in Smith, who isn't exactly pushing the envelope with offensive strategy. I still think Fields has the potential to lead an offense, but it would have to be in a situation similar to that in Baltimore or Philadelphia, where the offense was contoured to his skill set. Pairing him with Smith felt like square pegs and round holes.

Fields' most productive season was two years ago, when Chicago leaned into his running ability. If an organization wanted to glean the better parts of that season and pair it up with better protection and downfield concepts they might have something. I just don't know if Tomlin and Co. is the group that can do that.

 

Trade up in the draft or go after someone like Darnold.

If that doesnt work out make it a competition between Fields and Allen. If they can retain fields.

Wilson is done. Good for a backup/mentorship role at this point.

 

He was MVP of the Gator Bowl throwing for 4 TDs and putting up more than 50 points on Duke. He is rated as a mid to late second round pick so he could be there for us at round 2 but we need so many other positions to fill I'm not sure we go QB that early.

 

I doubt it. If they settle for Fields that doesn't mean they needed to see more. It might mean they needed a bridge guy, but I can't imagine Tomlin would ever call him that.

 

Wilson is in effect, a stop-gap for our future franchise QB. Problem is, he still has a bit of juice in him and with the descent amount of talent around him, this is a 9-8,10-7 team for the next couple of seasons. Therefore, we can't draft our future franchise QB, or very hard to do, when we're going to be picking 18-25 in the first.

Might as well go with Fields, to see if he's our future franchise QB and surpass our current middle of the row record or lead us into our future franchise QB in the 26 Draft, with a premium pick

 

it ALL SUCKS with Tomlin and Smith overseeing it.

you still don't get it!

 

This pretty much sums it up.

 

Wilson with a "real" OL... would be much better. So would Fields. Steelers need upgrades at LT, LG and RT badly. Fautanu might be able to fill one of those... the other 2 will have to come from the draft or free agency.

 

They'll win 9 games in 2025 no matter who their QB is.....you can take that to the bank.

 

My friend, I am seriously doubting there is a QB in this years draft that would be worth drafting or moving up to draft. There are 2 that may make it.

 

What you say is in line with everything I have read. I don't follow any college stuff, so I don't have my own thoughts there. I am not holding my breath on the Steelers getting a QB from the draft.

Maybe concentrate on the o-line for the draft and free agency and hope that that can turn a mediocre quarterback into someone who's not too bad?

 

2026 is better class of QB's.