George Pickens got into it with his new position coach. By now, if you’ve followed Steelers training camp, you know the story. To Pickens credit, he has since addressed that heated exchange, claiming he loves Zach Azzanni’s coaching style. He even compared him to Kirby Smart.
“I welcome him,” Pickens said, per Joe Rutter of TribLive.com. “I had a coach like that in college, so it’s not a huge change for me…That’s Coach Z’s personality.”
Pickens then said that Azzanni’s is a ‘great guy’, which should have put this entire issue to bed. Because it’s training camp, most national outlets ran a piece on Pickens — an embattled wide receiver who has created Steelers locker room issues in the past — up to his usual tactics. The Georgia product has remained a good soldier since, however.
Nonetheless, Pickens is just the tip of the iceberg in one of the more compelling Steelers training camps in recent memory. The quarterback battle between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields has received most of the attention, with Wilson named the starter by Mike Tomlin entering camp in Latrobe. It’s unclear if there’s any wiggle room for Fields to surpass the veteran Super Bowl winner, but the former first-round pick out of Ohio State is doing his best to impress coaches in drills and scrimmages. He’ll also receive an opportunity in the preseason.
Fields isn’t a finished product by any means, which makes him an exciting addition — a player Arthur Smith can mold to fit his system. Wilson’s calf injury to start camp put Fields at the forefront, and he made the most of that chance. At the very least, Smith should put together some unique offensive sets to get Fields in game action come the regular season, even if Wilson starts Week 1.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano takes matters a step further based on what he’s noticed from Fields and Wilson thus far. Graziano thinks Fields has what it takes to start right away in Pittsburgh.
“It’s a lot more of a coin flip than most think, and I believe that part of the reason the Steelers have set Wilson up as the leader in the competition is because they believe that’s the best way to manage him,” Graziano wrote. “But I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Fields will show enough through camp to catch him and claim the Week 1 starting spot.”
Graziano believes the Steelers will be ‘too tempted’ by Fields untapped potential. He went as far as to wonder what the Steelers would then do with Wilson if Fields won the job, stating “the question then would become whether Wilson is on the team at all.”
Pittsburgh is not immune to QB drama, as has typically been the case since Ben Roethlisberger retired. Nonetheless, it would go against Tomlin’s personality to bet against a supposed sure thing in favor of potential.
Tomlin knows what he’s getting in Wilson, even if that’s a flawed player. Fields potential could also take him off the rails and ruin the Steelers season. By no means is this an easy call.
