PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It may have started with just idle talk about Justin Fields. He’s a guy whose name is out there and the Steelers have a need. What is happening now is specific speculation from many NFL insiders that this could be a serious conversation.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter said on the Pat McAfee Show that Mike Tomlin loves Fields. Tomlin, along with new Steelers offensive coordinator and then Falcons head coach Arthur Smith, attended Fields Pro Day at Ohio State in March of 2021. The one where the quarterback ran a 4.43 40-yard dash and wowed people with his arm.
Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger is a weekly guest on the Fan Morning Show. He wrote on Tuesday about trades that could shake up the NFL and had Fields to the Steelers as his top choice. Spielberger listed the compensation as a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick.
“He has all the talent in the world,” Spielberger told Adam Crowley and Dorin Dickerson on 93.7 The Fan. “He’s a phenomenal deep-ball thrower. Touch with accuracy with a cannon for an arm.”
“He is the best athlete at the position in the entire NFL. I say that including the Lamar Jackson’s and Josh Allen’s of the world. He’s a freak, freak athlete.”
Spielberger, who lives in Chicago, says the first two seasons, when Fields threw 24 touchdowns to 21 interceptions with slightly under a 60% completion rate, he was ‘playing with probably the worst collective roster in the league’. The PFF analyst noted when you added receiver DJ Moore in 2023, Fields touchdowns were up per game, as were the completion percentages and yards.
Not that he’s a finished product or doesn’t come with some risk.
“There is still some concern down-to-down, accuracy over the intermediate parts of the field,” Spielberger said on The Fan Morning Show. “Can he see it and get it out quickly? I think he can be tapped into. The upside is still there.”
Spielberger said the intangibles are off the charts with Fields, calling him the most beloved player in the Bears locker room.
“There is no issue with who he is as a person, work ethic,” Spielberger said on 93.7 The Fan. “His intangibles are 100 out of 100. They would have like to have seen more growth.”
He said the Bears got a gift from Carolina to have the number one overall selection this year. Spielberger said if they had the fifth overall pick instead of the top, they would likely keep Fields and draft a wide receiver or offensive tackle.
Related
In comparison to Kenny Pickett, Fields threw far more interceptions, 20 in the last two seasons compared to Pickett’s 13, but Fields threw more touchdowns in 2023, 16, than Pickett has in his career, 13. For a Steelers team looking for splash plays, Spielberger pointed out this stat.
Passes 20-plus yards down field over the last two years
· Fields 15 touchdowns to 6 interceptions
· Pickett 6 touchdowns to 8 interceptions
We are all still speculating, but the noise grows and grows and from some of the more respected NFL reporters. It still might be a longshot or could never happen, but it appears the smoke is real.