Slash 2.0? Big Ben Would Like to See Justin Fields at WR
Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger made a bold suggestion on what the Steelers should do with quarterback Justin Fields. Instead of lining Fields up at his natural quarterback position, Roethlisberger would like to see Fields at wide receiver in certain packages to keep the defense guessing. Similar to a Slash 2.0 role that the Steelers used with Kordell Stewart in the 1990s.
“I would like to see, line him up at wide receiver a couple of times. Put him at difference spots because what that does, even if you don’t do anything with it, again, anytime you can make an opponent spend five minutes on something they may never see, it takes them away from preparing for what they will see,” Roethlisberger said on his Footbahlin podcast. “You could put [Fields] out at wide receiver and hand the ball to Najee. Like, you we’re gonna run a normal play. But having him a receiver now makes you think like, ‘OK, are they gonna throw it to him? Are they gonna through a reverse pass to him?”
Justin Fields was given the opportunity to make an impact on several series in Thursday night’s game against Cleveland, and he did for the most part as he helped lead a much-needed touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter.
His biggest play of the night was a 30-yard run down the sideline, but he’s still kicking himself that he got caught.
“I should’ve scored. I’m sick,” Fields said. “I just gotta make sure I’m warm on the sideline at all times. I felt stiff on that one.”
While there was some success, Fields also got stuffed on a fourth-and-2 play in the first quarter against the Browns.
“I like the Fields’ package,” Roethlisberger said. “It can’t be every third-and-short or every fourth-and-short. It has to be used kind of sparingly and at the right time.”
Tomlin said on Tuesday that Fields will continue to be a part of the team’s plans moving forward.
“It’s a component of what we do,” Tomlin said. “I’ve been pretty clear about that.”
The plan for Fields varies from week to week, however.
“When we use it or how much we utilize it will be dependent on plans week to week based on the opponent,” Tomlin said. “I don’t know if this week will be reflective of what you saw last week, to be quite honest with you. Just know that it certainly is a component of what we do and a component of every plan.”
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
“Instead of lining Fields up at his natural quarterback position, Roethlisberger would like to see Fields at wide receiver in certain packages to keep the defense guessing.”
I said a weeks ago: This is the time in a season when you put stuff like that on tape to, possibly, help your team AND to keep defensive coordinators studying for those extra few minutes…
I, sorta, agree with Benjamin but let’s be real… Kordell, quietly, turned out to be one of the best WRs in The League during his rookie season and The SuperBowl XXX run… I don’t think Justin would reach that level of participation at WR (you never know, though) but putting him on the field and on tape would be a positive…
Ben also mentioned the possibility of Jaylen over Najee as starter… Now that Jaylen is fully healthy, he does look better than Najee (again)… Najee has been ballin’ this season and that stretch of 100 yard games is only proof of that…
BUT…
It really is time for a change for the purposes of the run game, the short passing game (quicker check downs, too) and a glimpse at the future…
Happy Thanksgiving…
HERE WE GO, STEELERS, HERE WE GO…
People who have given up on Fields as the QB are looking at Wilson through rose-colored glasses. He simply has not been that great. The Steelers won with Fields playing too if you recall, and he should be playing much more than he has been. Stats can be misleading and it depends on which ones you look at.
The ESPN stat of QBR supposedly looks at how much the QB contributes to the team and currently has Wilson rated 33rd among 39 QBs who have played this year. Fields is rated 26th, which obviously isn’t great either, but those who are praising Wilson’s play are seeing something that really doesn’t exist and that very likely will become even more apparent as they play the rest of a much harder schedule.