Dan Orlovsky Believes Steelers Never Had Quarterback Competition

The Pittsburgh Steelers have yet to announce who will start at quarterback in Week 1.

Russell Wilson and Justin Fields have been competing for the starting job throughout the preseason, with Wilson starting the last two games against the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions. Head coach Mike Tomlin will make the signal-caller decision at the end of the week, but some believe this wasn’t really a competition to begin with.

Dan Orlovsky shared his thoughts on ESPN’s “Get Up” regarding the idea of the Steelers having a quarterback competition throughout training camp and the preseason, saying that he doesn’t believe this was ever a competition to begin with.

“I would have started Justin Fields but this was never a quarterback competition,” Orlovsky said on “Get Up.” “We were bamboozled a little bit and I have endless amounts of respect for Mike Tomlin. I remember when both of the moves were made being on the show and we said if this was really going to be an open quarterback competition, I expected Justin Fields to win that. This was never a quarterback competition. Russell played in preseason Week 2. He threw the ball twice against (the Lions).

“Now Justin Fields has had the ups and downs, the waves and whatnot. I thought he threw the ball really well versus the Detroit Lions. Everyone who is going to say he took two more sacks, neither of them were on him. So I understand the premise of their banking on the hopeful, more consistency from Russell Wilson but this was never a quarterback competition. If it was, Russell would have played much more in preseason Week 3.”

Tomlin will announce who will lead the Steelers to start the season later this week, with the expectation being Wilson. Whoever does get the call at quarterback will start against the Atlanta Falcons on Sep. 8. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. EST.

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