Trading Kenny Pickett provided the QB position with a clear number 1 in the room. Of course, there was only one guy in it, which makes that call fairly easy. The trade to acquire Justin Fields threatened to undo that. The last thing the team needs is another year of questions and doubt on who should start. Mike Tomlin may have just done the most important bit of coaching that he will do all year by making it clear that Russell Wilson is the designated starter going into training camp.

For those of you out there that have been through a military boot camp, you understand the need for a clear chain of command. At first, it seems a bit silly and overblown, but when the you-know-what hits the fan for real and there’s no time to think, having a clearly defined role and leader can literally be the difference between life or death. In football, the stakes aren’t quite that high, thankfully. However, it’s still incredibly vital to team morale, unity, and everyone working towards the same goal. A divided locker room with questions of leadership creates individuals with different agendas and less buy-in to the message, and that can be very detrimental to a team sport.

Tomlin publicly declaring to everyone involved that Wilson is the starter kills all that noise, and he was smart to do it. No team actually determines who the best QB is during training camp and preseason. There aren’t enough reps to go around with the first team during the summer to have a real open competition, and preseason results can never be trusted. Kenny Pickett and the first team offense looked like world beaters this last preseason, then San Francisco showed up for week one and things got real in a hurry. And that team is a great example of how the depth chart isn’t set by actual talent. One look at the path Brock Purdy had to take in order to get the starting job is proof. He is obviously better than Garoppolo and Trey Lance, but all those genius offensive minds still had him last on the depth chart until injury forced Purdy into the line up. I can’t imagine Trubisky actually outplayed Rudolph in Steelers camp, for that matter.

Unless the play between Wilson and Fields leading up to week one is so extremely lopsided as to be unheard of before, Wilson will be QB1 for the team entering the season. That’s when the real evaluation can start and decisions can be adjusted. Omar Khan is kicking butt and taking names to give this team the best roster he can get, and I have no doubt Mike Tomlin will follow suit with the depth chart after seeing live action results. Coach T has already taken the first step of setting a leader for this stage, and the team already seems to be rallying behind the decision. A championship is never won at this stage of the season, but it can be lost. For all the criticism on certain in-game coaching decisions, Tomlin is a very good leader of men, and clearly defining the QB chain of command from the jump will be giving this team a great foundation for a successful season both he, the organization and the fans need.