QB Room, Week 3: Let’s start with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Mike Tomlin’s Russell Wilson weirdness

By now, it seems like it would be beneficial for the Pittsburgh Steelers to openly commit to Justin Fields as their starting quarterback. And yet, head coach Mike Tomlin continues to dropkick that notion in the groin.

In a Tuesday press conference that is starting to look like someone keeps accidentally loading up a re-run, Tomlin once again went through his repetitive lines: Russell Wilson is limited in practice; Justin Fields should be focused on being the starter; nobody is getting named permanently to anything; I’ll make the decision when I need to make the decision.

Listen to him long enough on this subject and it will get stuck in your brain, alongside I pledge allegiance, to the flag … our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name … everybooody, rock your booody …

So, yeah. For the fourth straight week, no permanent starter has been named at the quarterback spot in Pittsburgh. This despite Justin Fields being 3-0, playing a lot of mistake-free football, and putting together his best game of the season from the pocket in Sunday’s 20-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Naturally, the question got asked on Tuesday: Why won’t he name Fields the starting quarterback?

“Because there’s no need,” Tomlin said. “You know, I explained to you the variables of the week. It has not changed. He’s going to walk in this building with that [starting] mindset tomorrow. And so I really — there’s no need to. Sometimes in this business, man, there’s a myriad of complex decisions that need to be made.”

“I’ve learned to make them when it’s appropriate and it’s not necessary as we sit here right now. When Russ gets to an appropriate point of health and we have a decision to make, I’ll make it and I’ll announce it, and I’ll be really transparent about it. But until then, I don’t care how many ways you guys ask me, you know, I got no intentions of making the decision that’s unnecessary at this juncture.”

There are a few ways you can absorb this, but the “why” is getting more limited as Fields continues to play well. Tomlin says Wilson continues to work on getting his strained calf where it needs to be, so it’s not like there’s an element of gamesmanship in play here. Wilson has been inactive three straight weeks and consistently listed as limited in practice, so opponents aren’t preparing for anyone but Fields at this stage.

At center stage, Fields is humming along, with more of the offensive playbook opening as he goes. His rushing attempts have dropped three weeks in a row, from 14 to 8 to 6 on Sunday. His passing yardage in Arthur Smith’s scheme topped out on Sunday. And keep in mind, none of this includes some of the positive plays that have been negated by penalties or mistakes that weren’t the fault of Fields.

But there is one overarching issue that remains: In 2023, the Steelers went through a saga of being a low-scoring defense-driven team under Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph and Mitchell Trubisky. The limitations of those players and that offensive experience left scars. And when the Steelers jettisoned their entire QB depth chart last offseason, the commitment was to get as far away from that reputation as possible.

In a sense, they did it by onboarding two players — Fields and Wilson — that are both more dynamic options than anything the team had going for it last season. But they also hit some speed bumps, with Wilson’s health becoming an issue in the preseason, losing rookie wideout Roman Wilson for nearly two months, and then failing to land Brandon Aiyuk in an attempted trade with the San Francisco 49ers. All three of those developments had an impact on the Steelers offense being able to grow a little more quickly.

The result? Fields stepped in as the starter and has been good enough to win games — but not yet good enough to flip a switch on the Pittsburgh offense and turn it into a high-scoring unit. Some of that has to do with limitations as a passer that he’s working to improve, while other parts of the issue are steeped in mistakes made around Fields. The cohesion and consistency of the offensive line, for example, has been a work in progress.

Now, as Fields has improved, Tomlin finds himself in an awkward spot. He previously named Wilson the team’s starter after an open training camp competition. And for the most part, it has seemed as if he’s leaned in Wilson’s direction since his signing in free agency. But Fields winning games and appearing to grow with opportunities creates some debate. If Wilson is suddenly healthy and able to play and Fields gets sent back to the bench, there is an element of fixing something that has yet to break. And if Wilson struggles or the Steelers begin losing games, there’s going to be an element of self-created chaos that comes into play. And ultimately, it’s Tomlin who will be responsible for it.

Judging by the conversations I had with people in the Steelers organization in training camp, I think they’ll ride Fields and the winning streak as long as they see signs of his growth. And in the meantime, Tomlin will spar with the quarterback questions without making a definitive statement. If the offense sees a big step forward under Fields, then there will be a review of the situation and eventually, a commitment. If it doesn’t, Wilson will be waiting in the wings.

It’s not the ideal situation, but it’s the one that the Steelers have tried to make as perfect as they can. Regardless, it’s better than what they were faced with in 2023. And that’s clearly what matters most in the organization.

Now on to Week 3 of the QB Room…

• Deshaun Watson’s 24-yard confidence ball just 10 seconds into the Cleveland Browns’ game against the New York Giants. I simply haven’t gotten a lot of glimpses of this guy since he departed the Houston Texans. Unfortunately, it didn’t last. Watson is facing a Las Vegas Raiders defense this week that Andy Dalton just carved up with the Carolina Panthers. He falters in this one, the wheels are going to come off fast.

• Anthony Richardson’s mind-boggling third-and-goal interception against the Chicago Bears. When I first saw the play, I didn’t realize it had been tipped. I wonder if he would have tried to run this ball in the past. If you slow it down, you can see he was trying to tuck a sidearm throw into the back corner of the end zone. It might have come open, but it was a foolish risk regardless. It’s not going to get any easier against the Pittsburgh Steelers this week.

• Sam Darnold’s suffocatingly tight 4-yard touchdown pass against the Houston Texans. There was zero margin for error on this throw and he nailed it. But my favorite part is you can see him get to his third progression on the throw in roughly two seconds. He’s never played this well in the NFL.

• Jared Goff’s 21-yard hook-and-ladder touchdown that was executed as flawlessly as can be. If you watch Jahmyr Gibbs coming out of the backfield, you can see he never takes his eyes off Amon-Ra St. Brown on the play. Clearly, the Detroit Lions saw something on the Arizona Cardinals’ tape that they thought they could exploit.

• Jayden Daniels’ mic-dropping 27-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin to ice the win over the Cincinnati Bengals. It had every element of a throw that makes a team believe in a quarterback’s greatness. It was a big-time moment in a third and long situation, with a free rushing safety off the edge. Daniels knew he was going to get hammered. But he stepped into the throw, putting the ball where McLaurin could go get it, and took the punishment. If Daniels turns out to be what the Commanders think he can be, this is a throw that people should remember being the first sign of greatness.

So, about that Bryce Young benching in Carolina … it looks fairly justified if you sat and absorbed Andy Dalton’s performance in the Panthers’ 36-22 road win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. I personally believe there is a mental element here with Young that I will let former NFL quarterback — and former No. 1 overall pick, Alex Smith — address later in this column. If you simply want a snapshot of Dalton’s overall stats, scroll down to the “Stock Up” section and I’ve laid them all out there.

The interesting depth to be had about Dalton’s performance is simply looking at how the Panthers offense functioned under his stewardship in Week 3 versus Bryce Young’s managing of Week 2. If volume, efficiency and expansiveness is your thing, then you’re going to be impressed at how Dalton was able to unlock a larger portion of the field with his throws, while also engaging his more explosive skill position players.

Just from a baseline standpoint, in Week 2, Young’s 18 completions were divided as follows: seven completions to running backs, six to wideouts and five to tight ends. If you generally understand where skill position players catch footballs, it translates to running backs and tight ends being the simpler, faster options in an offense. Meanwhile, the wideouts tend to be the more time-consuming, developed parts of a route tree. If you’re throwing to the wideouts, more often than not, it requires more time and patience than tight ends or running backs.

With that in mind, here is the distribution for Dalton in Week 3: 16 passes to wideouts, seven passes to running backs, three passes to tight ends. The basic, raw stats tell a story, and the passing charts back it up. Dalton, with the same personnel as Young, was accessing more of the field, while utilizing more wideout-driven production. We can filter that through a lot of different terminology or descriptions. But the fact is in the passing charts. And the charts say Dalton was accessing more of the field with his wideouts, which stretches the field vertically and presents a more complicated scheme for defensive players to cover.

Stock up

(Before we get into these this week, I want to note that there were seven or eight QBs who had performances worthy of landing in the “stock up” category this week. Unfortunately, it’s a numbers game.)

Carolina Panthers’ Andy Dalton

26-for-37, 319 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs; 2 sacks

As we showcased above, Dalton instantly unlocked Carolina’s offense in the win over the Raiders — and did it with the same personnel that Bryce Young was struggling with. I still think that has a lot to do with a deterioration in Young’s confidence rather than the personnel at this stage, but there’s no denying Dalton put up his best game since probably 2022. We’ll see where this goes next week against the Cincinnati Bengals, but it will be very interesting to see if there is really any interest in going back to Young as the season rolls on. Dalton will likely have to struggle badly for that to happen. Keep this in mind: Dalton turns 37 next month, is making a shade under $5 million for the 2024 season, and is a free agent next offseason. I would not be surprised to see him land a 2-year contract somewhere as a premium backup QB.

Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels

21-for-23, 254 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs; 12 rushes for 39 yards, 1 TD; 2 sacks

If Monday night’s 38-33 win over the Cincinnati Bengals is an accurate depiction of where Daniels is going — and I think it is — he’s going to be a serious player in this league. He had more total touchdowns (3) than incompletions (2) against the Bengals. He threw from the pocket to every area of the field. He extended plays and ran judiciously. To be reasonable, it’s only three games into his career and Daniels will most certainly hit a wall at some point. But he might be one of the unicorns that can destroy you from the pocket as a pure passer … or run all over you creating plays and breaking defenses. Basically, a smaller version of Lamar Jackson as a runner, but also a more refined passer from the pocket. I just keep going back to the part of my training camp tour when I saw the New York Jets and Commanders after their joint practices … when a high-ranking member of the Jets braintrust raved about Daniels completely unprompted. That’s unusual, unless a guy is special. Daniels fits that description right now.

Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen

23-for-30, 263 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs; 6 rushes for 44 yards; 0 sacks

With four touchdowns in the first half in a blowout 47-10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Allen could have very reasonably had a five- or six-touchdown day with 500 yards passing if the Bills hadn’t basically taken then foot off the gas pedal in the second half. Through three games of the season, he’s got a running game backing him up and is playing some of the best football of his life. Right now, he’s very likely going to be the league’s MVP through the first quarter of the season. The trade of wideout Stefon Diggs and remaking of Allen’s receiving core is dust in the wind at this stage. But stay tuned, because the next three weeks are going to be a road gauntlet, with Allen and the Bills facing Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans and Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets. Coming out of that stretch, we’re going to know if this Bills team is the AFC bully. And it will propel them toward the Nov. 17 matchup against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs that might be a game deciding home field advantage in the AFC playoff slate.

Stock down

Indianapolis Colts’ Anthony Richardson

10-for-20, 167 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs; 8 rushes for 24 yards; 1 sack

I really want to avoid banging a player with a stock down rating in back-to-back weeks, but Richardson is arguably in the most brutal valley of his NFL career (not counting last season’s injuries). I won’t harp on the interceptions again after already doing it in the 5 Throws That Blew Me Away section. But I couldn’t help myself and went back and looked at JaMarcus Russell’s first seven starts in the NFL … and there are some scary similarities statistically. I’m old enough to have seen Russell play in person. I was at his pro day and watched his career beginnings in the league. From the arm strength to the significant penchant for boom-or-bust plays, it’s hard for me not to think of Richardson, especially after seeing how poorly Richardson played against the Bears. All of that said, Russell’s support system and coaching failed him with the Raiders. Thus far, that doesn’t seem to be happening to Richardson in Indianapolis. I’ll take that as an early positive that could make the difference between a Josh Allen or JaMarcus Russell path.

Tennessee Titans’ Will Levis

26-for-34, 260 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs; 3 rushes for 12 yards; 1 lost fumble, 8 sacks

Levis telegraphed another pick-6 and turned the ball over three times in an ugly 30-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers. He has 16 turnovers in 12 games and has been sacked 43 times. Granted, we have to at least acknowledge that the offensive line has not helped this situation. But sacks are QB-driven stats, too — and Levis holds onto the ball too long looking for a play and also showcases very little feel inside the pocket. Being vastly outperformed by former Titans backup Malik Willis during the Packers loss was a dump truck of salt in the wounds of Tennessee fans who are quickly losing faith in Levis being the answer at quarterback. Monday’s road game against a Miami Dolphins defense that is capable of hurting Levis is going to be very interesting, particularly with a Titans bye in Week 5. At some point, if these turnovers continue, you’re going to fracture the relationship between the offense and defense. And that’s how a guy gets benched.

Las Vegas Raiders’ Gardner Minshew II

18-for-28, 214 yards, 1 TD, 1 INTs; 3 rushes for 14 yards; 2 sacks

Even with the shocking 36-22 home loss to the Carolina Panthers, it doesn’t feel like Minshew is the Raiders’ biggest problem. But there’s a pressing reality that Davante Adams still appears shut down as a downfield threat, and head coach Antonio Pierce seems to be toying with the idea of a QB change. That sounds dramatic after a 1-2 start, but this has also felt like a quarterback situation that was going to get fluid at some point in the season. I wonder if the Raiders are just trying to figure out if there’s any chance the 2025 quarterback is on the roster. With a talented Cleveland Browns defense on deck, Minshew has his work cut out for him when it comes to keeping his job past Week 4.

○ If Sam Darnold is going to come down to earth anytime soon, I think it happens in the next two weeks — either on the road this week against a Green Bay Packers defense that has been feasting on mistake-prone quarterbacks, or next week against a New York Jets defense that is gaining some momentum against less-than-stellar offenses. The Green Bay game in particular should be one that draws an immense amount of attention. If Darnold plays as efficiently and mistake-free against the Packers as he did against the Texans, then I think this is going to feel like it might be a more sustainable level of play.

I don’t think it’s time to talk about Darnold’s future yet, but if he strings together a few more of these games and looks like he’s finally breaking previous bad habits, then this is going to be an interesting conversation. He just turned 27 in June and conceivably could have a long career ahead of him as a starter. And if this is all real, he’s going to have some heat in free agency. The question is where does there appear to be a need for QBs? The teams you’ll likely hear if this stretch of play continues? I’m thinking it will be the Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Giants and Seattle Seahawks. Even though the Carolina Panthers might have a quarterback need, it’s hard to believe Darnold would ever entertain going back to that experience.

But there is one team that intrigues me the most when I think of Darnold’s potential future: The Los Angeles Rams. Darnold was an iconic quarterback at USC and went to high school an hour south in San Clemente. He’s a California kid who knows the Los Angeles lifestyle. And oh, by the way, he’s already running a version of the Kyle Shanahan offense in Minnesota … which is the offense Sean McVay is running with the Rams. There are a lot of seamless fits when I look at this. Do I think the Rams want to move off of Matthew Stafford? No. But the way things are structured financially right now, they could. Who knows what will happen with Stafford and Darnold the rest of the way. But keep this one in the top drawer.

○ Since we’re talking about Darnold, keep him in mind when you think about how certain you are that Bryce Young has turned into a terrible NFL player. There was a time in Darnold’s career that his confidence was shot, too. Who can for get the “seeing ghosts out there” moment with the New York Jets. A lot of Darnold’s worst tendencies had to do with the coaches and personnel around him. He didn’t have a lot of trust and confidence in his surroundings and that parlayed into some absolutely terrible habits. He looks like he’s starting to turn the corner on those in Minnesota. Who’s to say that Bryce Young can’t experience the same kind of resurrection down the line? Listen to former NFL quarterback Alex Smith on the subject of just being broken down as a player. He’s speaking from experience.

○ Just some stream-of-consciousness thoughts I had re-watching games on Monday:

It doesn’t feel like Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs offense is clicking yet and they’re still 3-0. If they get better from here, the AFC remains in trouble …

… Brock Purdy looked fantastic despite not having all those weapons on offense. Nearly all of his incompletions in the loss to the Rams were drops by his intended targets. He should have earned some respect, even in defeat…

… I don’t know if Malik Willis just needed the right offensive coach or if Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur is a genius, but I do know that Willis looks like he’s ascending in this opportunity. He’s signed through the 2025 season, but he might be opening the window to some interest from other teams. At the very least, he’s making himself some serious coin as a high level backup. But he might be more than that …

… Remember the Brian-Daboll-kept-Josh-Allen-on-the-rails conversation? When do we have that talk about Shane Steichen and Jalen Hurts? No player has turned the ball over more in the NFL than Hurts since Steichen left the Philadelphia Eagles to take over the Colts. He’s given the ball away 26 times in 20 games. That’s a wildly ugly stat …

… I think Caleb Williams is going to be just fine. But man, it has gotten noisy around him already. The offense is totally off-kilter, you had that thing with Rome Odunze’s dad tweeting out a clip of his son being open (and missed) on a route, you can see some frustration in his body language during games, and there was that weird controversy about how he reacted to C.J. Stroud talking to him after the loss to the Houston Texans. I just don’t see how this coaching staff and Williams make it to the other shore right now. Especially with ownership looking at the rest of the NFC North and seeing that literally every other quarterback has benefitted immensely from their offensive coaches …

… I don’t want to go overboard in highlighting basic, dumbed-down stats, but the comparison of the 17-game averages between Trevor Lawrence and Daniel Jones is jarringly similar in almost every category. It stopped me in my tracks:

Trevor Lawrence: 63.2% completions, 3,955 yards, 19 TDs, 13 INTs, 45.8% success rate, 6.38 air yards per attempt, 5.66 adjusted net yards per attempt, 84.5 rating

Daniel Jones: 64% completions, 3,538 yards, 18 TDs, 11 INTs, 42.8% success rate, 6.26 air yards per attempt, 5.45 adjusted net yards per pass attempt, 84.9 passer rating

○ To close it out, this is — by far — my favorite Tom Brady moment yet as a broadcaster. This made be belly laugh when I heard it live. We need more of this Brady, who was reacting in the moment like he would have if he’d been on the field. This is the authentic Brady, minus the litany of F-bombs he would have dropped on someone if he was still playing.