CBS Sports Gives Steelers an A+ for Justin Fields Trade
When the news broke Saturday night that the Pittsburgh Steelers acquired quarterback Justin Fields from the Chicago Bears, the reaction from current and former Steelers players was oozing with optimism. Several analyst also gave general manager Omar Khan high praise for getting Fields for just a sixth-round pick that can become a conditional fourth-round pick.
Ryan Wilson of CBS Sports was one of the analyst who raved about Khan’s heist, giving the Steelers an A+ for the move.
“This an A+, so you get Russ Wilson, Steelers fans are kind of talking themselves into Russell being the guy, he is an upgrade over Kenny Pickett even if it’s a marginal upgrade,” Wilson said. “And look, there are holes in his game no doubt about it, but now you bring in Justin Fields, who does all the things you want a young quarterback in the NFL to do. He’s incredibly athletic, he has a big arm, he can do a lot of things in space, he has to do better in the pocket.”
The Bears are trading Justin Fields to the Steelers.@ryanwilsonCBS gives the trade an A+ pic.twitter.com/e3fi7zPKdw
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) March 16, 2024
Wilson gave the Steelers props for not being stubborn and moving on from Kenny Pickett, even though they invested a first-round pick on him in 2022.
“Give Omar Khan credit, give Mike Tomlin credit, for realizing that mistakes have been made and moving on from those mistakes,” Wilson said. “It felt like in years past the team was sometimes stubborn to go forward in the face of mistakes. This year feels completely different and I think this team is going to look completely different on the offensive side of the ball for sure.”
Former Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley thinks Wilson and Fields as a quarterback duo is going to be a handful for defenses to prepare for. The Steelers could have a run package for Fields.
“I would hate to be a DC preparing to play @DangeRussWilson and Fields. I see a series a half for Fields that brings different element. Not enough practice time,” https://twitter.com/thetoddhaley/status/1769429063343423571″>Haley
wrote on X.
Shortly after the trade was announced, Wilson welcomed Fields to Pittsburgh on social media.
“Let’s get it @justnfields! QB room bout to be ? ? ?,” Wilson wrote on X.
It turns out that Wilson is a player that Fields always admired. Gene Chamberlain of Bears Digest noted that Fields once told the Chicago media that he tried to pattern his play after Wilson.
“I would say when I was younger, like maybe eighth, ninth grade, it was more Cam Newton,” Fields said a day after he was drafted. “But I would say these past couple years I’ve kind of turned more to a Russell Wilson-type quarterback.
“I’ve watched a lot of film on him. I’ve watched a lot of highlights on him, so I think the things that we can do on the field with both of those quarterbacks, I think we have a lot of similarities between extending plays with our legs and also having the arm talent.”
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