The thing about Fields and development for me is that he didn't get better and better with the Steelers, it's that he got better and then regressed. And the getting better was mostly linked to playing conservatively, and the regression linked to him trying to be a gunslinger again. He had that one glorious half vs the Colts where it honest to god looked like he could maybe one day be a franchise QB and then vs the Cowboys and Raiders he came back down to earth.
It's a six game sample and who knows what happens if Tomlin doesn't pull the plug, but it really raises the question to me of whether they genuinely developed him as a player - or whether they got better performance out of him because the Steelers defence was a better safety net and allowed him to play a lot less recklessly, which is only of so-so value with developing a young QB. It lets you keep them on the field, but at some point you have to ramp things up and have them do more. So far, that part seems to defeat Tomlin.
What's unsatisfying is to have a 4 day long discussion about the roster to then get hit with a "well nothing matters as long as Tomlin is here." OK, great.
I'm sure we all have some inconsistencies, but yes, I think that people engaging in rationale debate should at least attempt to remain consistent, I do.
Okay, I get it. To me they were different conversations and debates, so I didn't see the need to use the same measuring stick.
Although, tbh, you've got me thinking because when we come to it, maybe I'd stand by it. That what the Steelers do at the rest of the roster matters but when it comes to QB, I feel different and a lot less optimistic they can find a dude as it stands. I mean, QB *is* different. It's a harder to play position where young players need more development, the player has to be a lot more in sync with the coaches and what they want - and then has a bigger impact on everything. The Steelers get Queen to play a role he probably shouldn't and he's disappointing but he's still a useful enough LB and the defence has more good days than bad and gets a bunch of hype. Even a total obvious day of drafting miscast like Kendrick Green didn't kill the team (just his career).
But the young QB's performance will be far more affected by coaching. Put a rookie contract QB in who's not been cast right and you've capped his and the team's ceiling there and then.
Throw in that Tomlin seems a lot less clued up about the position than virtually any other and, well... yeah. I am a bit worried that it doesn't matter what QB we draft, he's going to mess them up. He can't guaranteed mess up the likes of Frazier or Freiermuth or Porter who are pretty much plug and play, but there are no plug and play QBs. He doesn't seem to know what he wants, he doesn't seem to know how to tell good from bad, and he doesn't seem to know how to progress them. This will be his chance, this draft or next, to prove me wrong but I'm not confident. Hell, bluntly, I'm not sure he wants to do it. I remember Glazer saying Tomlin didn't want to start again around 2022. I don't think he's changed his mind.
The good news is he'll mostly delegate to Smith and Arth, and probably Sullivan a bit too if he's still around then. The bad news is if Smith shows the same judgment he did with Ridder, we're in trouble.
