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

The AFC is full of good QB's, if you don't have one, you have ZERO chance to get to the Superbowl. This last weekend hammered that point home.

The Steelers needed to get Big Ben's replacement in the building years ago, but they didn't want to ruffle feathers, so now don't have an answer at QB.

If Burrow stays healthy next year, Cincinnati takes our spot and we are sitting home for the post-season. The quarterback position is just that important with the rules changes.

Russel Wilson is a first read QB that can throw a deep ball, but is washed. He is not athletic enough to deal with our consistently underperforming O-Line.

Justin Fields is a first read QB that struggles to throw deep with any accuracy. He is athletic and can run, but because he is not a passing threat, defenses don't fear him. He is a backup. Nothing more.

This team needs to scrape bargain bins in Free Agency and draft a QB EVERY YEAR until they find an answer. Even if a QB you draft is not the answer, they can become a trade asset given the premium on the position.

I have a feeling with our high-priced defense aging, wearing out, and with the low coaching IQ, the bottom is going to fall out sooner than later, meaning 2026 or 2027 will put us in a higher draft position.

 

You making the argument that the Steelers should have played the worse quarterback, thus hurting their team this year and costing themselves a conditional fourth-rounder, just to get another look at a guy we already know isn't good enough is even funnier.

 

Please stick to to the topic without the dubious pretzel twisting claims. I do not believe you are representing my posts fairly when you do so. The offense got better when they replaced Fields with Wilson. Teams had to respect the deep ball with Wilson in there. They didn't with Fields playing. Yes, Wilson faltered late in the season. He also played during the much more difficult part of the schedule. Fields was showing his flaws against easy competition. Sure, Wilson had the stinker against the Bengals, but the rest of it was against the Ravens twice, the Eagles, and the Chiefs. Those are arguably the top three teams in the league. The Chiefs and Eagles had great defenses all season. The Ravens were dominant defensively over the second half of the season. Context matters.

I believe some of your posts have suggested making the switch to Wilson was a waste even if it did make the team better this year. If I misread that, my apologies, but I don't think I did.

 

If they bring Wilson back then this franchise is even more lost that we thought.

 

He'll be back, he wants to come back and the Steelers are satisfied with his mediocre performance.

 

A collection of opinions is not the facts.

Also, it was your claim that I was twisting myself into a pretzel that was dubious. I didn't accuse you of that. I'm arguing the point rather than going after the person with whom I disagree.

To be fair, I am quite stubborn when I'm right, as I am in this case. I'm sorry, but I can't get behind an argument that the team should stick with the backup quarterback to get a look at him rather than turning the offense over to the starter who just got healthy six weeks into the season. You are arguing that winning 10 games and getting to the playoffs is a waste. You say you didn't mean forfeiting, but you are arguing that the coach should not do what he thinks will give the team its best opportunity to succeed unless it makes them a favorite to go to the Super Bowl. No good coach is going to think that way. I wouldn't want the Steelers' coach to think that way. If he thinks the veteran is going to give his team a better opportunity to win, that's who needs to play.

Also, I don't remember Tomlin saying the reason to play Wilson was that he saw the field better and protected the ball better. They needed to get more from the passing game. What Wilson did was give them a credible deep passing game, one that opponents had to respect. With Fields in there, it was too easy to stack the box and attack at the snap because he wasn't able to make them pay for it. That changed with Wilson. Remember, the offense struggled with Fields even though that was the soft underbelly of the schedule. In six games, Fields faced two playoff teams that both got their asses kicked in the first round of the playoffs. Wilson faced three of the top four teams in the NFL.

Wilson made the team better, so no, it wasn't a mistake to play him. That is a coach's job, to put the players on the field who give his team the best opportunity to win.

 

Haha, he let a lot of $$$ "pass" him by. Not saying they would have beat the Lions but that game should have been real close. He missed some passes I think I could make.

 

I remember that paper, I delivered it. I think the Press and P-G had same one. I was a Press delivery kid. I'm guessing the Press is long gone by now.

 

@Formerscribe @Blast Furnace to put an end to qb debate:
They both sucked. Giving Allen a pass. Was a reason we got BOTH qbs for a candy bar.

 

I think a blind man could see it was going to fail with Wilson… once again who would pay someone $80 mil to get the hell out of the building??
As far as Fields is concerned, Cowboy game was the end. Cowboys missing half their defense and he couldn’t move the ball. I understand the Steelers defense was horrible in that game also.
Qb position is an issue, but I would be more worried about our defense and the way it played the last 5 games! Agreed?

 

Steelers just signed veteran QB Skylar Thompson. He’s a 27 year old who was a 7th round pick out of Kansas State that was originally signed by the Miami Dolphins. Apparently he started 3 regular season games (including a playoff game)when Tua Tagovailoa sustained a (seemingly millionth) concussion.

Thompson went 1-2 completing 58.7% of his passes and had a 66.1 passer rating. I’m assuming this was just a depth move at this point with Wilson, Fields and Allen possibly entering the free agent market.

 

Also, the Steelers did better than I expected. I thought they were only going to win 6 games!
Hopefully they right the ship in a couple of seasons.
I really like the OL, young and talented. Give them some more time to gel.

 

He hasn't. That is true. That said, from what he has shown?! That alone is worth investing a Top 5 Pick on.


Dude has it. He just hasn't been able to showcase it..... yet..


Regarding Lawrence?! That hype was warranted. Lawrence took Clemson to the National Title game as a Freshman. He wouldn't replicate that sadly but the immeasurable potential was there.


Shahid Khan did far more harm for Lawrence than good. For that matter, Virginia McCaskey has done much of the same to Caleb Williams by keeping Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron.

 

That Tennessee QB that @KnoxVegasSteel knows about in Nico Iamaleava would not be a bad consolation prize either. He is a supercharged Justin Herbert. Wouldn't mind having him.

 

Should’ve got Rattler!

 

The bears had better offers for him but the GM let fields pick where he wanted to go. For that matter who was lined up for Russ. I mean Denver paid to get him out and ate dead cap space on top of the salary. What does that tell you? I value Sean Payton’s opinion more than Tomlins.

 

Even at that how was he best for us this season? We draft in the high 20’s and again get blown out in the wild card round.

 

I believe the last edition was printed over 32 years ago

July 28 1992

 

Time will tell. This year was a little rough. He going to need to account for a lot more TDs next season