Late stage Russ is an upgrade for the Steelers. Just not in a way anyone can get excited about.
The Pittsburgh Steelers started three quarterbacks in 2023, none of which were especially good. They still won 10 games and made it to the postseason last season.
Now they’ve got a marginally better option who does absolutely nothing to raise that ceiling.
Late Sunday, news broke the Steelers had signed the recently released Russell Wilson. This would have been incredible news as early as 2022, since we’re talking about a man with nine Pro Bowls to his name. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, this is 2024, when Wilson is the quarterback the Denver Broncos were still willing to burn $85 million of dead salary cap space just so he *wouldn’t* play for them ever again.
This is, amazingly, a minor upgrade for a 10-win team. At least at first glance.
There is so much to worry about when it comes to Wilson’s recent performances. He was 11-19 as a starter in Denver. His 20 deep ball completions were the lowest single-season mark of his career in 2023. He was benched for Jarrett by-god Stidham.
This is all a shocking downturn for a player who is only 35 years old. But even in his mid-30s Wilson remains a useful scrambler even if he’s no longer as accurate on the run as he was when he was creating magic with the Seahawks.
He may no longer be Pro Bowl material — a brutal distinction given the quarterbacks who ride that garbage tide into the original all-star game no one cared about — but he can be steady enough to win games. His 0.066 expected points added (EPA) per play ranked 18th among 32 starting quarterbacks last season, eight spots ahead of Kenny Pickett’s -0.053.
Limit that to the second half, where his offense was more likely to go off script and a quarterback’s instincts could take over and he ranked 13th — between Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert.
via rbsdm.com and the author
That’s genuinely decent! But it’s also sorta the thing Kenny Pickett did well, ranking 16th on that same chart at 10 years younger than his new quarterback competition. Pickett, for his myriad flaws, did some things right. Most importantly, he crushed a couple late deep balls and long outs to George Pickens in clutch moments, creating a world where his Steelers could be outgained nearly every game but outscored in only seven.
This is where Wilson will need to separate himself. He will need to execute early in games to eliminate the scenarios where his defense is forced to fire up like Hulk Hogan in the late-80s and shake off blow after blow to superhuman effect. He’ll need to bring life to a passing attack that had 13 — THIRTEEN! — passing touchdowns all of last season. He’ll have to win over a fanbase that will embrace him with open arms if he wins early and lob soft, enlongated A-vowels at him in insult if he does not.
There is logic to this move, even if the upside is limited. Wilson is cheap, since the the labor of counting the money he’s still owed by Denver wore him down to a $1.2 million commitment this spring. He’ll have a solid corps of targets and running backs to share the load between George Pickens — a man who may miss a week should his retinas lock at the top of his skull while reacting to a Wilson press conference in-season — Diontae Johnson, Pat Freiermuth, Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. There is the capacity for a comeback.
And Wilson, with his try-hard enthusiasm and weird Subway commercials and general embrace of all things corny, is somehow a perfect fit for a fanbase that genuinely and truly loses its collective mind when Styx hits the stadium speakers.
Year 13. Grateful. @Steelers pic.twitter.com/0U4Q2sRtXs
— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) March 11, 2024
(That is not an insult, by the way. No one is saying that. The only knock on Renegade is that it is not Blue Collar Man.)
Still, Wilson has not shown he can fix the Steelers. Instead, he can be the latest link in a chain that keeps Mike Tomlin’s streak of non-losing seasons alive before a spirited and ultimately uneventful departure from the playoff bracket. Pittsburgh’s refusal to bottom out meant Russell Wilson was the best it could hope for in 2024. Unfortunately, that’s at least five years too late to be exciting.
