It hasn’t been a banner week for former Pittsburgh Steelers starters. Over the weekend, Najee Harris and James Connor both suffered season-ending injuries following grueling lower-body injuries. Given their age and the severity of their injury, these may be career-ending situations.
It looks like Russell Wilson will join them for a vastly different reason.
Signed by the New York Giants to be their starter, the writing was on the wall quickly after the draft wrapped up. Jaxson Dart was selected to be the future of New York, even if the goal was for the rookie to sit and learn early on.
Following three consecutive losses at the start of the season, the Giants are sending Wilson to the bench in favor of the rookie. After having sat through the Wilson roller coaster last season, you can’t help but feel like the Steelers should have done the same in 2024.
The Giants just did what the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t have the guts to do by benching Russell Wilson
Last year, it was fully expected that Wilson would be the guy for the Steelers. That was until an injury hampered him all of last offseason. Backup Justin Fields looked good early in the year, guiding Pittsburgh to a 4-2 record.
Despite winning games, the Steelers turned to the veteran. The risk paid off initially, as Wilson revitalized the passing offense and captured some of that magic he had early in his career.
That fireworks faded, though, and Wilson came back to earth later in the year. The team floundered along with him, losing their last handful of games and being bounced in the first round of the playoffs.
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Once those struggles started, though, the Steelers stood pat with Wilson despite Fields being on the bench and having some good tape through his initial starts. Instead of applying some pressure with Fields, the team blindly trusted the elder statesman in the room.
Frankly, it feels like a similar situation to what the Giants were in. While Dart was drafted by the organization and was always going to be the future of the team, the Steelers viewed Fields favorably. Heck, they tried to bring him back this past offseason.
Had they gone back to the young talent, he may have been more willing to return to the team. Instead of giving a potential franchise option that chance, they played it safe with Wilson. The Giants aren’t making that same mistake.
Of course, the front office is in a much hotter seat than Mike Tomlin was. Frankly, a few more losses and there is a real chance this staff gets cleaned out. Dart is their last chance at keeping their jobs.
It’s still the right move, though. Outside of a sudden shootout with the Cowboys, Wilson was playing some bad football. You might as well see what you have in the rookie. Pittsburgh did the opposite last year.
Time will tell if this was a worthwhile move for the Giants. However, their moving on so quickly from Wilson is a bad look for the Steelers, who were so willing to cling to him despite his play regressing.