Steelers' Justin Fields gets major endorsement from Mike Tomlin despite benching

01/15/2025 01:57 AM

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ season came crashing down over the final five weeks, as Mike Tomlin’s squad saw a 10-3 record disintegrate into five consecutive losses. The last of those defeats came at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card round in a 28-14 beatdown to end the Steelers’ season.

Justin Fields started the season at quarterback for Pittsburgh, finishing with a 4-2 record over the first six games of the season. Despite the winning output, Fields was replaced by Russell Wilson after Wilson returned from his calf injury. The Steelers continued to win for a while with Wilson before the late-season slide, and Fields saw some situational action as a short yardage running quarterback.

Even though Fields was benched during the season, Tomlin was very complementary of the young quarterback after the season according to Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly.

“Certainly,” Tomlin said when asked if Fields proved he's a starter, per Kaboly. “I thought that the way that he managed his professional circumstances was really impressive. I thought he brought an urgency in his day-to-day work regardless of his role. I thought he got continually better within our system of ball throughout the process. I thought the way he conducted himself makes that a legitimate thought or idea at this juncture.”

Fields is a free agent this offseason and so is Wilson, so it’s unclear at this point whether Fields will have a chance to prove that he is a starting quarterback next season and where that chance may come.

Where is the best fit for Justin Fields?

Justin Fields had an up-and-down season with the Steelers this season, and now he will hit the open market with an uncertain and incomplete resume as an NFL quarterback. Even on his way to winning four of his six starts with the Steelers this season, Fields struggled to consistently move the ball through the air and often relied on his running ability to create big plays.

For that reason, the best fit for Fields next season if he is to become a starter is probably in Pittsburgh with Arthur Smith as the offensive coordinator. Smith has a lot of experience working with running quarterbacks who are limited as passers and has shown that he can maximize that kind of player.

Smith could use Fields in a similar way to the one in which he used Marcus Mariota during his time in Atlanta with the Falcons. Fields still has plenty of room to grow as a passer when it comes to accuracy, pocket management, sack avoidance and attacking the middle of the field, but playing in Smith’s system would allow him to work on those things while also having his strengths amplified.

If Fields goes somewhere outside of Pittsburgh, he could find himself in a situation where he is asked to do things that make him more uncomfortable than he would in Smith’s system, which is not what he needs at this point in his career. Therefore, it would be beneficial to Fields to find a way to come back to Pittsburgh for another year.

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