The Pittsburgh Steelers are facing a very unique situation at the most important position in professional sports, and that would be the quarterback position. It has been well-documented so far about the team’s situation with both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Terms like “pole position” and “competition” have been misused and re-used as much as humanly possible.

Now that the Steelers are two-thirds the way through their 2024 Preseason schedule, the team now looks at the uncertainty of who will start when Week 1 rolls around.

Will it be the steady veteran leadership of Russell Wilson? Or will the team go with the dynamic playmaking ability, yet head-scratching miscues, of Justin Fields?

At one time this was a non-question. The Steelers were going to role with Wilson unless he got hurt, or played poorly enough that he didn’t deserve the starting position any longer. Well, one of those two things happened.

As Mike Tomlin likes to say, “A player’s best ability is his availability.” And that remains true for the quarterback position as well. During training camp when Wilson was nursing an injured calf, it was Fields who took all the first-team repetitions and got the experience in the Arthur Smith’s offense.

Now add in the fact the offensive line is more than banged up and is struggling to protect the quarterback, and you have a difficult scenario for a quarterback who was limited, per Arthur Smith on Tuesday, in what he can do within the team’s offense. Meanwhile, Fields has been able to maneuver himself throughout the offense and make plays, even behind the patchwork offensive line.

Does this mean Fields will be the starting quarterback when the Steelers go to Atlanta in Week 1? No, not necessarily. But when I spoke with our source inside the Steelers organization, he said the odds of Fields being the starter have increased. Want a number percentage? He said the odds of him starting were around 45%.

45% still doesn’t make him the odds-on favorite to start, but that number has increased incrementally since the start of training camp in July. What once was a less than 10% chance has more than doubled, and depending on how these two athletes perform vs. the Detroit Lions Saturday could dictate who gets the nod in Atlanta.

This is far from a perfect situation for the Steelers, but the organization is looking at what is best for the team, and who gives them the best chance to win. If Russell Wilson is limited, as it has seemed the past few weeks, the answer might be Fields. Should be interesting to see how this plays out.

Be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the preseason finale in Detroit this Saturday at 1pm EST.