I work from home, and I usually have one of the talking head sports shows on mute playing in the background. In the past, I would turn it up if I saw they were discussing the Steelers. I no longer do that because it’s the same exact conversation time after time, day after day. It doesn’t matter what network or show, the hive mind has taken over all when it comes to covering the team. I’m sure you have seen it as well. There will be a short video clip of Justin Fields completing a pass in a 7 on 7 drill and the graphic will read some variation of “Should Justin Fields take the starting role from Russell Wilson?”

The talking heads will start in on why Justin should be named the starter, two weeks into camp, based on a few clips where he completed a pass. This is why I am so glad I found SCN. Here you get informed and level headed insights on where the entire team is right now, and not some “hot take’ designed to get clicks off of controversy based on a few videos taken out of context.

I am not a golfer. In my previous life as a purchasing planner for a hydraulic cylinder manufacturer, I was taken on a golf outing by the company. I had swung a golf club maybe three times before in my life. The first hole was a dogleg, with the fairway bending off to the right. I watched, bored out of my mind, as everyone else stood over the tee forever before swinging the club. They would wriggle their feet and butt like a cat about to pounce on a grasshopper before finally hitting the ball an eternity later, only to curse loudly as it went in the trees or dribbled out about twenty yards with a chunk of sod in tow.

When it was finally my turn, I decided to Happy Gilmore it. I just walked up and swung the club with no hesitation. The ball shaped perfectly with the dogleg and curved out of sight as it followed the fairway. It landing perfectly in the middle out of sight as it rounded the bend. Everyone was stunned, including me. Of course, I didn’t hit another shot like that the rest of the day. In fact, the only two clubs I used were a driver and a putter, because I could not get any of the other clubs to work for me. However, if those talking heads on the sports shows had seen that one solitary clip of me off the tee, they would have declared me the next Tiger Woods with a graphic of “Is this newcomer the future of golf?”

Since I follow SCN and read the detailed reports of the action in training camp, I understand the reality of the situation. Justin Fields is performing exactly as I saw when I watched every snap he took last year with the Bears. There will be a great pass followed by several head scratching plays. Fields has times where he performs a quick read with a rocket release for a completion and then the next series will look like even a base defensive front confuses him.

The talking heads say the big play potential should win Fields the starting job over the consistency of Wilson if the Steelers want to have any success this season. They obviously have not been watching this team. What we would give to see a consistent offense that could sustain more than one drive a half. The past few years, all the offense consisted of was one or two big plays a game spread out between drive after drive of 3 and outs with missed passes and bad play calling. It would get depressing at times, or even worse, boring.

There is a reason Russell Wilson was named the starter going into training camp. Watching his tape last year, he was extremely accurate and almost never had a pass get away from him. A tweaked calf due to having him insanely push a sled five times during a fit test is not changing that fact. The coaching staff understands what this defense could be with an offense that can move the chains and consistently sustain drives, versus never getting a chance to rest after forcing a stop. Russell Wilson provides that right now, plus he is capable of delivering a big play downfield as well. While Fields is an upgrade over the signal callers from last year, the offense would look much the same, with sputtering drives that end with missed throws or bad reads. No one wants a repeat of that frustration to open the season.

There is an advantage to having Fields get the majority of snaps with the first team right now. He needs them more than Wilson does, as he has both more to learn and bad habits to unlearn. From all accounts, he is working hard and doing just that. This time in camp could pay dividends later in the season if he is called upon to be the starter. Fields will continue to learn and improve as he observes from the sideline, an opportunity he was never afforded in Chicago.

The talking heads only pay attention to random highlight offensive plays through the air. Pittsburgh is in the process of bringing back their identity of a dominating defense with a punishing offensive line that can run the ball at will. A consistent quarterback that doesn’t miss easy throws and can deliver an accurate deep ball is what the team needs right now, and that is Russell Wilson until his play in stadium dictates that it is not. If that happens, Justin Fields will get his chance to show how he has grown in this new environment, but starting jobs are not won on a few completions in training camp drills, no matter what the sports shows say. Leave them on mute and turn up the SCN podcasts. It’s so much better that way.