Steelers Legend Doesn’t Hold Back On Pittsburgh’s QB Competition

The Pittsburgh Steelers have completely revamped their quarterback room this offseason, signing Russell Wilson and swinging a trade for Justin Fields.

Compare that to last year, when the Steelers trotted out Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky and Mason Rudolph, all of whom received playing time.

Wilson is certainly the favorite to win the starting job heading into 2024, but Fields has made it clear that he is definitely competing with Wilson in camp.

Legendary Steelers running back Jerome Bettis loves the competition and thinks it will bring out the best in both signal-callers.

“You’re going to get the best of both of these guys, they’re going to give you 110 percent,” Bettis said during an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “The team is going to benefit ultimately. Down the stretch we got a murderer’s row of teams we got to play in our division. Having two quarterbacks is going to prove beneficial in the long run. This gives the team a good chance to make the playoffs and a really good chance to go further.”

Bettis added that the one thing Pittsburgh didn’t have last season was “high-level quarterback play,” which is very accurate considering that the team shuffled through three different players under center.

Of course, question marks still remain at the quarterback position for the Steelers heading into 2024.

Wilson is coming off of a forgettable two-year stretch with the Denver Broncos (although he did play much better in 2023), and Fields went just 10-28 as a starter with the Chicago Bears.

Still, the fact that Wilson is a nine-time Pro Bowler and won a Super Bowl championship with the Seattle Seahawks has to make Pittsburgh feel considerably more confident in its offense this time around.

And, at the very least, if Wilson falters, Fields will be there to relieve him, and he did show some promise during his final year with the Bears last season.

The Steelers went 10-7 in spite of their poor quarterback play in 2023, but ultimately fell to the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.

We’ll see if Wilson (or Fields) can elevate Pittsburgh’s offense and make the team more of a legitimate threat this coming season.