Now that we are 10 practices in one thing is overwhelmingly clear: QB Justin Fields is the story of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ training camp so far.
What that means in 2025 or September or even on Tuesday, I have no idea. But there is no question that the fourth-year quarterback has had the spotlight since the Steelers’ first practice. Now, that is because Russell Wilson pushed a sled too hard or something, but it’s true either way. And Fields understands as well as anybody how important it is to seize upon this moment, because it won’t last.
A 2021 first-round pick of the Chicago bears, Justin Fields is now on his second team and third system. The Bears traded him for a conditional future sixth-round pick earlier this offseason, moving on with first-round pick Caleb Williams.
But the Steelers did not trade for Fields to start—they signed Russell Wilson in free agency to do that. Only after Kenny Pickett requested a trade did the Steelers and Omar Khan pick up that phone. To his great credit, however, Fields has been professional about everything, including his approach to the presumed pecking order.
But Justin Fields is not the story of Steelers training camp only because of what he is doing. It goes deeper than that, and is about the future more than it is the present. He isn’t simply an exciting athlete with intriguing skills; he is potentially the next franchise quarterback. Russell Wilson may be the better player, but realistically, he is near the end of his career.
Now, not everything is about the global perspective with Fields, as head coach Mike Tomlin might say. The fact of the matter is that he keeps giving people to talk about, and even changing some minds. To watch him up close and really see what he does is different from reading about it, and it can sway you into becoming a believer.
Most notable for me, though, is the fact that Justin Fields actually has improved over the course of training camp. Arthur Smith talked about how well he is operating the offense, and recent training camp reports bear that out.
At this point, I don’t know that we can say definitively that the Steelers are still committed to Russell Wilson. At least, not committed to him as the starter for the duration of the 2024 season, or even for the start. There are three preseason games during which Fields can convince them to change course, which might be even easier if Wilson isn’t ready to go for the first preseason game.
But as I said at the start of this, all we really know so far is that Justin Fields is the talk of the town. How much of that is just talk, we’re going to have to learn as this thing plays out. It’s not as though he has never gone through a training camp before. The real test is playing in actual NFL games, but will he start one for the Steelers this year? Don’t be so sure about that, regardless of how much coverage he is getting in early August.
