It has been an extremely interesting training camp thus far for the Pittsburgh Steelers. All eyes are on the Steel City, and throughout the nation, fans and pundits are closely following the quarterback situation. It was expected that Russell Wilson would be in pole position to be the starter, but a near two-week long calf injury has held him out of the majority of practices as a full participant. This has opened the door for Justin Fields to show the coaching staff and fan base what he is capable of. It’s safe to say that many are now wondering if the former Chicago Bears first-round pick could win the job outright.
In what has been one of the most talked about topics around the league, people everywhere are trying to predict what might happen with the Steelers’ offense. There are even some throwing out the idea of the team utilizing both signal-callers throughout each game in order to make it nearly impossible to game plan for. One analyst, however, thinks that’s a terrible idea.
Former Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Andrew Hawkins joined Get Up on ESPN Monday morning and ripped apart the idea of both quarterbacks being involved week in and week out.
“As a wide receiver, that is certainly like showing up at the barber shop and you give me a different barber every single time,” Hawkins said. “My game is tailored to who my quarterback is and it would be so annoying throughout the game, having to be teetering away [how] I’m going about my business based on who’s at the quarterback position.”
Hawkins was confident that it would be the wrong move for the Steelers to insert both players into the lineup throughout regular season contests. He was adamant that it could have damaging effects on the team as a whole.
“It forces the quarterback to press and if you put a situation on a quarterback where he has to press, he will not be as good. Another situation is, players will choose sides. It will divide a locker room.”
Head Coach Mike Tomlin could have a serious decision to make that maybe he didn’t expect to have back when both quarterbacks joined the roster. He even recently stated that Fields is even more athletic than he previously thought.
Hawkins provided more of his expertise when discussing the situation and believes that throughout a game, not having a consistent quarterback does more than just potentially divide a locker room and cause wide receivers to be out of rhythm. It also affects who is supposed to be taking all the snaps and reading defenses each play during contests.
“You lose the rhythm of a quarterback by the way of passive intel that a quarterback gets throughout a game. The plays where you’re just handing it off or you’re seeing defensive fronts, or you’re seeing the way that coverages are adjusting or being disguised that determine games late in the game, you lose that if you’re going through two quarterbacks.”
All of the points that are made by Hawkins are relevant. It’s not the end of the world to have the second-string guy rotate in on short third and fourth down situations, as well as in the red zone, but constantly mixing it up could be just as confusing for an offense as it is for a defense. Time will tell what Tomlin and co. decide to do, but it could be detrimental if both are on the field consistently.
Steelers Have Pivotal Decision To Make At Quarterback
The defense for Pittsburgh is expected to be stout, but the overall success at season’s end might end up being due to the starting signal-caller. It still appears to be Wilson, but Fields’ strong play in camp could make it easier to bench Wilson if he struggles early on. Fans are beginning to come around to the idea of Fields starting, and Tomlin could feel the pressure much sooner than anyone anticipated.
