The Pittsburgh Steelers were going to have to do something with their quarterback situation this offseason. In their last three seasons, with Ben Roethlisberger and Kenny Pickett as their primary quarterbacks, the Steelers have had winning records, and negative point differentials. That’s a tough “standard” to maintain, and there’s only so long you can expect your defense to hold water while your quarterback is completing 62% of his passes with a 7.1-yard average depth of target, as Pickett did last season.
Now, with the signing of Russell Wilson, Mike Tomlin’s team — and new coordinator Arthur Smith’s offense — at least has a rogue factor that could bring some level of improvement. Wilson famously washed out with the Denver Broncos after two seasons, but he did throw 26 touchdown passes to eight interceptions last season. All of Pittsburgh’s quarterbacks combined managed 13 touchdown passes to nine interceptions, so yes… Russell Wilson is a considerable upgrade.
Take from that what you will.
Wilson will be paid $36 million dollars by the Broncos to not play for them, so he was able to sign a league-minimum deal with the Steelers. That allows the team to focus on other quarterback options in the draft without too much commitment, and there’s no realistic way Wilson and Pickett come into training camp with Pickett beating Wilson for the starter’s role.
If we make that a given, what can Wilson do for the Steelers that no other quarterback has been able to do since Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t on his last legs?
Wilson can win with the deep ball in ways no other Steelers quarterback can — last season, he ranked ninth in the league (tied with Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears) with 23 completions of 20 or more air yards on 60 attempts, for 818 yards, six touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 112.5. That deep-ball passer rating was seventh-best in the league. Last season, Pickett, Mason Rudolph, and Mitchell Trubisky combined for 18 deep completions on 55 attempts for 662 yards, four touchdowns, six interceptions, and a passer rating of 64.17. Alpha deep receiver George Pickens, who was clearly frustrated with his offense last season, should find things better with Wilson under center.
Russell Wilson is who he is, but he was also a better deep passer last season than all three of the Steelers' quarterbacks… combined. pic.twitter.com/vpmirFNvcO
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 11, 2024
Arthur Smith is a coordinator who wants his quarterbacks using a ton of play-action — last season, when Smith was the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach, Desmond Ridder uses play-action on 31.9% of his dropbacks, and Ridder was far more efficient with it than without it. Wilson had play-action on just 22.1% of his dropbacks last season, but he completed 64.7% of his passes with 11 touchdowns and just one interception with play-action. There could be a lot of meat on the bone with Smith and Wilson when it comes to explosive plays out of play-action, which Wilson has been able to execute since his days in Seattle.
Arthur Smith wants explosive plays out of play-action. Russell Wilson can execute explosive plays out of play-action (11TD, 1INT in 2023). So, that could be a thing. pic.twitter.com/l2tn1082N2
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 11, 2024
Really, if you look at what the Steelers need, what Arthur Smith wants his offense to look like, and what Russell Wilson is still capable of doing, the Steelers did excellent work in adding Wilson to their roster. Nobody’s saying that he’s a franchise quarterback anymore — there are complications on and off the field that seem to preclude that idea — but this is a team that needs to push forward with full intent at the most important position in sports, and the Steelers did that on the cheap.
Yes, it was a low bar, but Russell Wilson does raise it.
