The 2024 NFL season is indeed crucial for Russell Wilson. The former Broncos quarterback, who inked a $245 million contract upon arrival in Denver, has joined a new mission with the Pittsburgh Steelers. While Mike Tomlin’s charismatic presence as the head coach is a welcome addition, what may concern the Orange Crush is Wilson’s disappointing record of being sacked.
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According to StatMuse, the 35-year-old NFL star is the most sacked shot-caller in the NFL in the past ten years, with a total of 450 tackles for loss. Matthew Stafford is the distant second-place holder with 350 sacks.
What may concern the Steelers about this upsetting record is whether he will repeat his mistakes in Pittsburgh as the team enters the make-or-break 2024 season. Despite playing just 15 games each in 2022 and 2023 with the Broncos, the star QB still got sacked 55 and 44 times, respectively. The Black and Gold definitely wouldn’t want that, and one could very well argue that it could prompt a change at the quarterback position.
Will Mike Tomlin Place Justin Fields in the Center Instead of Russell Wilson?
With the inclusion of Justin Fields and Russell Wilson in his offense, Mike Tomlin has two legit candidates for the Quarterback position. However, the head man has made it very clear that Wilson will be the one to take over the helm. While he might not have made as big of an impact as Sean Payton would have hoped for in the past two seasons, Wilson still managed to tally 26 passing touchdowns and 3 rushing scores. He also accumulated 3070 passing yards and an additional 341 yards on the ground, as per ESPN.
Fields, on the other hand, tallied 16 passing touchdowns and four rushing scores in 2023 in 13 games. He accumulated 2562 yards and an additional 652 rushing yards, according to ESPN. His running game is evidently superior to Wilson’s; therefore, it would be hard for the Steelers to keep him on the sidelines for long. Despite what Tomlin claimed about Wilson getting the starting role, the upcoming training camp would certainly play a key factor in who would get the starting QB slot.
Nonetheless, Wilson won’t give up easily, as in February, he made it very clear that he is not even remotely close to hanging up his cleats. He apparently wishes to add two more Super Bowls, which could definitely come to fruition if his union with Tomlin works out.
“For me, it’s about winning over the next two years. I want to win two Super Bowls. I want to feel the chill of that trophy again. The thing I want to do is to win. That’s all I care about,” Wilson said, per NFL.com.
Notably, Coach Tomlin holds the record for the most consecutive non-losing seasons as a head coach (17). If Wilson can’t win big with him this year, he might as well call it a career. Moreover, the sack issue must also be addressed if he doesn’t want to be replaced by a fourth-year QB.
