Steelers reporter explains why Justin Fields trails Russell Wilson

For an article published on Monday morning, Pittsburgh Steelers beat reporter Mike DeFabo of The Athletic wrote that Russell Wilson "was clearly" the better quarterback over Justin Fields throughout springtime workouts regarding a competition for the club's starting job that may already be over.

DeFabo offered more information about that take during a weekend appearance on Pittsburgh sports radio station 93.7 The Fan.

"I think if you go to training camp, one thing I would watch is seven shots," DeFabo explained, as shared by Joe Cammarota of Steelers Depot. "And I would watch how Justin Fields processes the game. I think that right now he's still working on processing the game more quickly, knowing his reads, getting to those reads more quickly. I think that just the speed of the game is definitely affecting him at this point."

DeFabo's comments could understandably raise some concerns among Steelers fans considering Fields made 38 starts with the Chicago Bears over the past three seasons and, theoretically, shouldn't still be working on "processing the game" at this stage of his career. Then again, Pittsburgh only gave up a conditional 2025 sixth-round draft pick to land Fields in March, and the club can move on from him after the upcoming campaign.

Just about every local insider who covered the Steelers from March through mandatory minicamp noted that Wilson is on track to start Pittsburgh's Week 1 game at the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 8. DeFabo indicated during the radio spot that Fields could still make the situation interesting before the Steelers finish the preseason versus the Detroit Lions on Aug. 24.

"Now, that could change once they put on pads, and I think that's where Justin Fields has an opportunity to maybe turn this into a competition," DeFabo continued. "He should get an extended run in preseason games, and I think that's when his athleticism and his arm really show off."

As of Monday morning, FanDuel Sportsbook listed Wilson as a massive -1000 betting favorite to start over Fields against Atlanta. If rumblings about the Steelers potentially using special packages for Fields during games are inaccurate , as was suggested last week, he may need Wilson to either struggle or go down with an injury to see meaningful playing time between Week 1 and January.