When it comes to the care and feeding of rookie quarterbacks, NFL coaches are clueless. They can beat the Tampa 2, they can create endless stunts and blitzes, they can detail the intricacies of the spread offense, but they can’t figure out how to handle a rookie QB. NFL teams spend millions of dollars on wildly successful college QBs and then they turn them over to their coaches and cross their fingers.
I’m having a great time watching Justin Fields find his legs within the Steelers org. Tomlin is such a great coach, imo it’s because he focuses on the man, and not the game. Watching him interact with Broderick Jones after he gave the Steelers like 4 penalties in 7 plays, you see him talking to the man, and in the press conference later on, he doesn’t trash him in any way. Steelers also are notorious for dismissing even top-level talent if they start to become toxic, or fail to meet Tomlins expectations off the field. It’s really just a great organization to support, and it doesn’t hurt that they just keep winning.
We now have Fields operating behind a fanTASTIC offensive line, and under a new offensive coordinator that is really playing to Fields strengths. I’m kind of hoping that he remains the starter, because while I think Russel Wilson may have better accuracy, Fields is so dangerous on the run, that it forces defenses to play in a way that minimizes that threat, which can open up the field for splash plays to Pickens.