Overreaction Monday: Justin Fields will be the reason Russell Wilson wins Steelers job

The quarterback competition in Pittsburgh has been one of the more intriguing storylines over the last two seasons. Last year, Kenny Pickett lost his job to Mason Rudolph down the stretch of the 2023 regular season. When Pickett returned from injury, Rudolph remained the starter.

Now, heading into the 2024 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have another QB competition, but this one is between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, their two big offseason acquisitions. The understanding all offseason was that Wilson would be the starter and Fields would be the backup until Wilson struggles or Fields proves that he's ready. In a perfect world, Wilson leads the team this year and Fields takes the season to grow and develop before taking over the team next year.

But as preseason pushed on and Wilson missed time with an injury, many speculated that Fields could take the job right out of Wilson's hands. And Justin Fields had the perfect opportunity in week one of the preseason to prove that he should be the starter in Pittsburgh.

Overreaction Monday: Justin Fields will be the reason Russell Wilson wins starting job

Fields, when everything was going well, was great in his limited opportunities in week one of the preseason. He connected on a few passes that brought a ton of hope to the Steelers fanbase. Fields would complete five of his six passes for 67 yards while playing in the first three drives of the game. As Sterling Holmes and Iain MacMillan broke down on Stacking the Box as well, his play was just a bit sloppy.

But as you look deeper into it, it's more obvious that he isn't ready to be the starter and he's handing the keys over to Wilson as the starter this season. Let me explain.

You don't need to know football very much to understand that the Steelers putting up zero points during the three Justin Fields-led drives is a bad thing. Fields never led the Steelers into field goal range, let alone threatening for a touchdown.

Though he looked solid when he was getting throws off, he continued to show his immaturity as a player after being sacked twice and fumbling the snap twice. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin made a few comments on the botched snaps, noting that it's something to work on over the next few weeks.

Either way, stuff like that has haunted Fields for his entire professional career. When everything is going well, he has the chance to prove that he's a supremely talented signal caller. But when he's fumbling snaps and taking unnecessary sacks, he's handing the keys right over to Russell Wilson.

Russell Wilson may have won the starting quarterback spot in Pittsburgh while watching from the sidelines.