Justin Fields has been competing with Russell Wilson this offseason in an attempt to win the starting quarterback job for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But in a pretty brutal turn of events, one prominent ESPN analyst doesn’t think he was ever actually given a fair chance to compete for the job.
During a recent appearance on Get Up, ESPN analyst Dan Orlosvsky called out the Pittsburgh Steelers and head coach Mike Tomin, claiming that everyone was “bamboozled” into thinking it was a real quarterback competition between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
“I would’ve started Justin Fields but this was never a quarterback competition,” Orlovsky said . “We were bamboozled a little bit. I have endless amounts of respect for Mike Tomlin, there’s no way that this was a quarterback competition. Russell missed practice and played in essentially one game. … We said if this was really going to be an open quarterback competition, I expected Justin Fields to win that. This was never a competition.”
“I would’ve started Justin Fields, but this was never a QB competition. We were bamboozled a little bit.”@danorlovsky7 on the QB battle in Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/FtGVRES1c0
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) August 26, 2024
Orlovsky thinks that Tomlin made up his mind that Wilson would be the starter long before this point.
“Russell played in preseason Week 2, he threw the ball twice against [the Lions in Week 3],” Orlovsky added. “Now, Justin Fields has had the ups and downs…I thought he threw the ball really against the Detroit Lions. Everyone is going to say he took two more sacks — neither of them were on him. So, I understand the premise of they’re banking on the hopeful more consistency from Russell Wilson, but this was never a competition. If it was, Russell would’ve played much more in preseason Week 3.”
Needless to say, this is some pretty brutal news for Fields that he did not seem to be given a fair chance, and it led to a lot of reactions on social media.
Bamboozled? Everyone in Pittsburgh knew Wilson would be the starter. You just didn’t want to listen. https://t.co/F9PbUDLti3
— Donny Football (@DonChed54) August 26, 2024
Let be honest, you only pick up Russell Wilson if he’s gonna be ur starter. Then they got fields who’s a work progress, bc he has more to prove. By no means anyone should’ve thought fields would get the starting job to begin the season. Otherwise the Russ move makes zero sense. https://t.co/ybvFgR49KO
— ♛ Shane • (@ShaneSheazy) August 26, 2024
You absolutely were not bamboozled. You didn’t listen or look. You made up a narrative for the sake of conversation. That’s ok. But don’t now act betrayed. THERE NEVER WAS A COMPETITION. https://t.co/RbNdyoUnXz
— Mark Madden (@MarkMaddenX) August 26, 2024
Bamboozled how? It was always Russ. No one in pgh is surprised. https://t.co/ZGNXc4AF1o
— morgan 🐉 (@tokyoXmo) August 26, 2024
Look I understand that it’s hard to follow 32 NFL teams all the time and know every single thing, but if you truly thought that Russell Wilson wasn’t going to be the starter then you just weren’t paying attention https://t.co/rp8bxb7WAK
— Alex (@AlexOnFifthAve) August 26, 2024
Everyone in the national media is so horny to bury Russell Wilson that they’re making up stories lmao. If you actually listened to what Tomlin has been saying you wouldn’t feel “bamboozled” https://t.co/d9oT2yTVzu
— Lion (The System) (@Champ_Lion) August 26, 2024
The Steelers have not yet officially named a starting quarterback, but Orlovsky clearly expects it to be Wilson.
