Chalk Talk: Quarterback mobility has to be priority
The Steelers can learn a few things from the four teams left competing for the Super Bowl. There are a few things the Chiefs, Bills, Eagles and Commanders all have in common. One of them, and it's something the Steelers can add to their offense, is quarterback mobility.
The good thing is, in his end-of-season press conference, Mike Tomlin said it was "very" important to have quarterback mobility.
"That's not a new discussion. I've expressed that in this setting and settings like these for years," Tomlin said. "The X-factor that quarterback mobility is in our game and is trending and been trending. That is not a new discussion."
He's right about one thing. If you look at the final four teams, they all have quarterbacks that can do damage with their legs. Patrick Mahomes' unpredictability, even with his legs, makes him a nightmare for defenses. Meanwhile, the Bills straight up run quarterback power with Josh Allen between the tackles. And, both Jalen Hurts and Jayden Daniels are gifted athletes that can make just about any play with their legs.
However, Tomlin talked about this not being a new discussion. That kind of flies in the face of what the team has done since Ben Roethlisberger retired. Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett could run, but on multiple occasions, Tomlin emphasized a "prudent use" of quarterback mobility with those guys. And, while Russell Wilson is still somewhat mobile, he's definitely slowed from his prime days in Seattle. He's definitely lost the ability to escape pockets the way he used to.
Now, Tomlin had a dynamic athlete in Justin Fields, who's one of just three quarterbacks in NFL history with a 1,000-yard season on the ground. That is game-changing mobility. And, even after Tomlin opted to switch from Fields to Wilson after six games, Fields was still used in special packages that threatened defenses with his legs.
I understand Tomlin's logic for switching to Wilson after Fields had helped lead the Steelers to a 4-2 record to start the season. Not only was Wilson finally fully recovered from his calf injury that began the day players reported to training camp, more importantly, the Steelers needed to become more explosive through the air. While Fields scored a total of 10 touchdowns in those six games, he only threw for five of them. While he hit six big-time throws, according to Pro Football Focus, his 73.6 passer rating on throws 20-plus yards downfield wasn't quite enough to help put the offense stretch out defenses.
In addition, the Steelers converted 9 of 16 trips to the red zone into touchdowns, a modest rate of 56.3%. That number would have been good enough to finish 17th in the league at that rate. That's a good number for Fields, especially given the growth that he showed over six games. But Tomlin knew that good wasn't, well, good enough.
"Justin has been really good, and we've been really good at times, but not to be confused with great," Tomlin said ahead of starting Wilson in Week 7. "This is a competitive league, man. We're trying to position ourselves to be that team, and we got a player with talent who hadn't had an opportunity to play, so we're going to potentially explore those things."
This isn't a guess, by the way. It's not a theory of why Tomlin switched to Wilson. I spoke with several people on the South Side, and every single one of them gave me the same answer. It was all about trying to take an offense that had pretty good quarterback play and make it great.
Throughout his career, Wilson had been great, even borderline elite, at a few different things. We all know about his ability to throw the deep ball. That carried over to the Steelers, recording a 122.1 passer rating on throws 20-plus yards downfield. So, one mission accomplished in replacing Fields. But, Wilson was always good at converting in the red zone. Even in 2023, his last season in Denver, 20 of his 26 touchdown passes came from inside the red zone.
That, however, did not translate to Pittsburgh. After Tomlin made the switch, the team went 18 for 40 in the red zone, lowering the overall success rate to 48.2%, the fourth-worst mark in the league.
Watching Sunday's divisional playoff between the Ravens and Bills, Allen didn't put up crazy numbers. He completed 16 of 22 passes for 127 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions. That's a passer rating of 86.7, a QBR of 71.1 and only 5.8 yards per attempt. Nothing that will explode off the stat sheet. If anything, those are some pedestrian numbers.
But, the difference-maker is the Bills are as good as anybody in the red zone. They finished second in the NFL with a 71.6% conversion rate, and 11 of Allen's 12 rushing touchdowns this season came in the red zone. Allen scored two rushing touchdowns in their win over the Ravens. Do you think anyone in Buffalo is complaining that those scores came from him using his legs instead of his arm?
This is where Tomlin needs to back up what he said just last week. If they go with Fields, who might be their best option given the underwhelming list of free-agent quarterbacks, then they have a guy who can attack defenses through the air and on the ground -- and in the red zone:
That's all five of Fields' rushing touchdowns. All coming inside the red zone, all counting the exact same number of points as passing touchdowns.
This doesn't mean Fields doesn't come without risk. He's a former 11th overall pick that has yet to play up to that level. While he showed growth as a passer, particularly in not turning the ball over (just two in six games), he needs to become more consistent in the intermediate throws. The good thing is he grew in that regard with Pittsburgh, recording a 130.9 passer rating on all throws in between 10-19 yards with an average depth of target of 13.5 yards.
Again, the ideal situation for the Steelers would be to draft the next franchise quarterback. But, this is a bad draft class this year. None of them can be counted on as being that type of quarterback. Fields at least provides a ton of upside, especially since he's only about to turn 26 in March. And, he gives the Steelers exactly what they need to make at least one part of their team more modern: Quarterback mobility.
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THE ASYLUM
Chris Halicke
5:16 pm - 01.21.2025DowntownChalk Talk: Quarterback mobility has to be priority
The Steelers can learn a few things from the four teams left competing for the Super Bowl. There are a few things the Chiefs, Bills, Eagles and Commanders all have in common. One of them, and it's something the Steelers can add to their offense, is quarterback mobility.
The good thing is, in his end-of-season press conference, Mike Tomlin said it was "very" important to have quarterback mobility.
"That's not a new discussion. I've expressed that in this setting and settings like these for years," Tomlin said. "The X-factor that quarterback mobility is in our game and is trending and been trending. That is not a new discussion."
He's right about one thing. If you look at the final four teams, they all have quarterbacks that can do damage with their legs. Patrick Mahomes' unpredictability, even with his legs, makes him a nightmare for defenses. Meanwhile, the Bills straight up run quarterback power with Josh Allen between the tackles. And, both Jalen Hurts and Jayden Daniels are gifted athletes that can make just about any play with their legs.
However, Tomlin talked about this not being a new discussion. That kind of flies in the face of what the team has done since Ben Roethlisberger retired. Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett could run, but on multiple occasions, Tomlin emphasized a "prudent use" of quarterback mobility with those guys. And, while Russell Wilson is still somewhat mobile, he's definitely slowed from his prime days in Seattle. He's definitely lost the ability to escape pockets the way he used to.
Now, Tomlin had a dynamic athlete in Justin Fields, who's one of just three quarterbacks in NFL history with a 1,000-yard season on the ground. That is game-changing mobility. And, even after Tomlin opted to switch from Fields to Wilson after six games, Fields was still used in special packages that threatened defenses with his legs.
I understand Tomlin's logic for switching to Wilson after Fields had helped lead the Steelers to a 4-2 record to start the season. Not only was Wilson finally fully recovered from his calf injury that began the day players reported to training camp, more importantly, the Steelers needed to become more explosive through the air. While Fields scored a total of 10 touchdowns in those six games, he only threw for five of them. While he hit six big-time throws, according to Pro Football Focus, his 73.6 passer rating on throws 20-plus yards downfield wasn't quite enough to help put the offense stretch out defenses.
In addition, the Steelers converted 9 of 16 trips to the red zone into touchdowns, a modest rate of 56.3%. That number would have been good enough to finish 17th in the league at that rate. That's a good number for Fields, especially given the growth that he showed over six games. But Tomlin knew that good wasn't, well, good enough.
"Justin has been really good, and we've been really good at times, but not to be confused with great," Tomlin said ahead of starting Wilson in Week 7. "This is a competitive league, man. We're trying to position ourselves to be that team, and we got a player with talent who hadn't had an opportunity to play, so we're going to potentially explore those things."
This isn't a guess, by the way. It's not a theory of why Tomlin switched to Wilson. I spoke with several people on the South Side, and every single one of them gave me the same answer. It was all about trying to take an offense that had pretty good quarterback play and make it great.
Throughout his career, Wilson had been great, even borderline elite, at a few different things. We all know about his ability to throw the deep ball. That carried over to the Steelers, recording a 122.1 passer rating on throws 20-plus yards downfield. So, one mission accomplished in replacing Fields. But, Wilson was always good at converting in the red zone. Even in 2023, his last season in Denver, 20 of his 26 touchdown passes came from inside the red zone.
That, however, did not translate to Pittsburgh. After Tomlin made the switch, the team went 18 for 40 in the red zone, lowering the overall success rate to 48.2%, the fourth-worst mark in the league.
Watching Sunday's divisional playoff between the Ravens and Bills, Allen didn't put up crazy numbers. He completed 16 of 22 passes for 127 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions. That's a passer rating of 86.7, a QBR of 71.1 and only 5.8 yards per attempt. Nothing that will explode off the stat sheet. If anything, those are some pedestrian numbers.
But, the difference-maker is the Bills are as good as anybody in the red zone. They finished second in the NFL with a 71.6% conversion rate, and 11 of Allen's 12 rushing touchdowns this season came in the red zone. Allen scored two rushing touchdowns in their win over the Ravens. Do you think anyone in Buffalo is complaining that those scores came from him using his legs instead of his arm?
This is where Tomlin needs to back up what he said just last week. If they go with Fields, who might be their best option given the underwhelming list of free-agent quarterbacks, then they have a guy who can attack defenses through the air and on the ground -- and in the red zone:
That's all five of Fields' rushing touchdowns. All coming inside the red zone, all counting the exact same number of points as passing touchdowns.
This doesn't mean Fields doesn't come without risk. He's a former 11th overall pick that has yet to play up to that level. While he showed growth as a passer, particularly in not turning the ball over (just two in six games), he needs to become more consistent in the intermediate throws. The good thing is he grew in that regard with Pittsburgh, recording a 130.9 passer rating on all throws in between 10-19 yards with an average depth of target of 13.5 yards.
Again, the ideal situation for the Steelers would be to draft the next franchise quarterback. But, this is a bad draft class this year. None of them can be counted on as being that type of quarterback. Fields at least provides a ton of upside, especially since he's only about to turn 26 in March. And, he gives the Steelers exactly what they need to make at least one part of their team more modern: Quarterback mobility.
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