If Russell Wilson Can Replicate Success From Last Season, It Will Give the Steelers Their Best QB Play Since Big Ben

Adam Borst |

Updated: Jul 22, 2024

Pittsburgh Steelers QB Russell Wilson — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson at the team's mandatory minicamp, June 11, 2024 - Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

All 90 is a Steelers Now series profiling each of the 90 members of the Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 offseason roster. Next up is QB Russell Wilson.

The end of Russell Wilson’s era in Denver was headlined by the toxic relationship that developed between him and his head coach Sean Payton. It resulted in the Broncos cutting ties with Wilson despite still owing him over $30 million. Now that Wilson is in Pittsburgh, he is feeling rejuvenated.

“I feel the fountain of youth,” Wilson said at minicamp in June. “I feel revived in every way. Mentally, emotionally, spiritually – I feel confident. I think at some point you have to know who you are as a player, as a man, as a competitor. As somebody who’s been fortunate to be able to play this game, I don’t doubt it. I trust it. I felt really good last year playing. I felt really confident in the midst of everything. And so I think right now I have all that confidence times ten.”

Wilson has placed that rough time period to the back of his mind and is solely focused on getting to know his new teammates and getting better. He said he loves this part of the process and is just ready to get to work with all of the guys.

“You take one day at a time, and you just put in the work, man,” Wilson said. “I just think that’s the part I love. There’s nothing like doing the work. There’s no substitute. There’s no substitute for the hard work. And that’s the part I love.”

Aside from his Super Bowl winning experience, Wilson brings a sense of leadership to the offense, something that may have lacked in the past few seasons. One teammate already noticed and acknowledged Wilson’s leadership. That teammate is Wilson’s backup, Justin Fields.

“It’s been great just learning from him every day,” Fields said. “Just how detailed he is with everything. Just how he works. Everything he does. The way he acts around his teammates. He’s been great. A great teammate to me. A great mentor to me so it is awesome to have a guy like Russell in the room. You get to learn from him and kind of pick his brain on some stuff.”

Wilson is in the “pole position” to be the starting quarterback this season but Fields is waiting in the shadows for his chance to start. If Wilson can replicate his 26 touchdown-eight interception season from 2023, that would be better quarterback play than the Steelers have gotten over the past few seasons.

Regardless, Wilson is likely to be the starter come Week 1 in Atlanta but if his production dips below the level that Tomlin and company are comfortable with, he could be usurped by Fields by the end of the season.

3 • Russell Wilson, Quarterback, Wisconsin
5-foot-11, 206 pounds, 35 years old, 13th Season

Acquired: The Steelers signed Russell Wilson to a one-year contract on March 10, 2024.

Last season: Russell Wilson had another “down year” in Denver last season. Despite many calling it a down year, Wilson threw for 3,070 yards, 26 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. In 15 starts for the Broncos. Wilson led them to 7-8 record.

Wilson’s tenure in Denver was headlined by who his head coach was, not necessarily about his play.

Pittsburgh Steelers Free Agent Target Russell Wilson

Career: The Seattle Seahawks drafted Russell Wilson in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He started immediately as a rookie and played well as he finished his first season with 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

In his second season, Wilson led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl victory after leading the team to a 13-3 record during the regular season. Wilson led the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl in 2014 but came up a yard short of his second Super Bowl ring.

Wilson stayed as the Seahawks starter for the next seven seasons until he was traded to the Denver Broncos. Wilson led the Seahawks to 104 regular season victories and two Super Bowl appearances.

In his first season in Denver, Wilson’s production was stunted due to the team and coaches that surrounded him. He finished the first season in Denver with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, the worst ratio of his career.

In total, Wilson started 188 games and totaled 43,653 yards, 334 touchdowns and 106 interceptions. As a starter, Wilson has led his teams to a combined record of 115-72-1.

Year	Team	GP	GS	CMP	ATT	CMP %	YDS	TD	INT
2012	SEA	16	16	252	393	64.1	3,118	26	10
2013	SEA	16	16	257	407	63.1	3,357	26	9
2014	SEA	16	16	285	452	63.1	3,475	20	7
2015	SEA	16	16	329	483	68.1	4,024	34	8
2016	SEA	16	16	353	546	64.7	4,219	21	11
2017	SEA	16	16	339	553	61.3	3,983	34	11
2018	SEA	16	16	280	427	65.6	3,448	35	7
2019	SEA	16	16	341	516	66.1	4,110	31	5
2020	SEA	16	16	384	558	68.8	4,212	40	13
2021	SEA	14	14	259	400	64.8	3,113	25	6
2022	DEN	15	15	292	483	60.5	3,524	16	11
2023	DEN	15	15	297	447	66.4	3,070	26	8

College: Russell Wilson committed to North Carolina State to play his collegiate football. As a true freshman, Wilson was placed on a redshirt but was recognized as the team’s top scout team player. In 2008, Wilson started 11 of his 12 appearances and finished his season with a 17 touchdown to one interception ratio.

Wilson started for North Carolina State for the next two seasons and finished ranked third in school history and 12th in ACC history with 8,545 career passing yards. He threw 76 touchdown passes in his Wolfpack career, the second-best mark in school history and the third-highest in the ACC record books, at the time.

Following the 2010 season, Wilson transferred to Wisconsin University. In his lone season as a Badger, Wilson started all 14 games and threw for a 33 touchdowns and four interceptions. Wilson broke the school record for single-season passing yards (3,175), touchdown passes (33), completions (225) and yards of total offense (3,513) in 2011. He scored or thew for 40 combined touchdowns, which tied the school record.

Year	Team	GP	CMP	ATT	CMP %	YDS	TD	INT
2007	NC St	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008	NC St	12	150	275	54.5	1,955	17	1
2009	NC St	12	224	378	59.3	3,027	31	11
2010	NC St	13	308	527	58.4	3,563	28	14
2011	Wisc.	14	225	309	72.8	3,175	33	4

Salary cap and future: Russell Wilson signed a one-year, team-friendly deal this offseason. His contract is fully guaranteed and he will earn $1.21 million in 2024. He will become an unrestricted free agent following this season.

The rest of the 90: