Unpopular Opinion: The ultimate Wilson-Fields-Smith conspiracy theory

When the Pittsburgh Steelers are in the dreaded long offseason, there are plenty of ideas to debate. As part of the triumphant trio on the Steelers Preview podcast, I’ve been known to often give a “Dave answer“ to various things as I often like to argue both sides of an issue. With this in mind, a new weekly segment has been born… Unpopular opinion.

There are plenty of arguments both for and against the Pittsburgh Steelers that might not go along with the majority of fans. Oftentimes I believe in these arguments, while other times I simply like to pose a counter argument for ones that are taking it too much to the extreme. For this reason, I’m going to offer some points about the Pittsburgh Steelers that go against the general fan narrative, or at least how I have heard things.

Next up is a crazy theory about the Arthur Smith vs. Russell Wilson reports which also brings Justin Fields into the mix…

The ultimate Wilson-Fields-Smith conspiracy theory

I decided to take a completely different angle this week. Instead of offering a take about the Pittsburgh Steelers that goes against what most of the fans are saying, I’m going to give a wacky conspiracy theory that, chances are, none of the fans are thinking. But even if there are fans out there thinking it, it’s not going to be a very popular opinion.

I also will admit that there are holes in this theory. That’s going to happen at almost any kind of conspiracy theory that is drummed up. But because of the news this week of the issue between Russell Wilson and Arthur Smith and how often Wilson was checking out of plays, I just thought this would be a fun topic to cover.

So hear me out…

It has been widely reported that Arthur Smith wanted to stay with Justin Fields during the 2024 season and that Mike Tomlin went “Lone Ranger” on inserting Russell Wilson with the lineup. This is important to this theory as it might explain some things that happened later.

Another thing that is important for this crazy theory is my perception of the difference between Justin Fields and Russell Wilson when it came to the Pittsburgh Steelers, particularly through the first 10–12 games. I liked the idea of going to Russell Wilson because the Steelers “took off the kid gloves“ and actually let their quarterback play to win rather than play not to lose. I was tired of the constant “live in your fears“ philosophy of the Steelers offense had been implementing at quarterback as they are not supposed to take a chance but simply be focused more than anything on taking care of the football. With this in mind, and the ability of the quarterback to change up plays at the line of scrimmage, the Steelers were better off going with Wilson who they simply let run the offense on the field rather than someone they obviously didn’t trust to take chances in Justin Fields.

These are things that I said during the season when Russell Wilson took over. I hadn’t really addressed them much since the Steelers fell off a cliff to end the season. But with the way I was thinking about things before and hearing these reports now, I’m wondering if Arthur Smith took exception to how things were going with the Steelers quarterback situation as the season went on.

It is important to know I look at Arthur Smith much like Brian Flores when he joined the Steelers. “It’s nice to get back and have a job, but ultimately I would like to move onto something better.” I believe Smith ultimately wants to get back to being a head coach, and things that could make him look inept would not help his cause.

When things were looking great with Russell Wilson, and the fact that he was blowing off Arthur Smith’s plays and changing things up at the line, it continued to not put Smith in the best light. He preferred Justin Fields, but a mandate came from above that Fields was to be reined in. The fact Mike Tomlin went to Russell Wilson and gave him free rein did not prove that Wilson was a better quarterback, only a quarterback with these freedoms would obviously perform better.

After Wilson‘s explosion in the passing game simply by being allowed to do what quarterbacks do, Smith was tired of looking bad. He had enough and felt that Russell Wilson should be constrained, much like Justin Fields, to show who was truly the better quarterback. After viewing the final five games, it doesn’t appear that Wilson was the better player, simply the one that was allowed to play “big boy” quarterback for a while. Had Justin Fields been able to take off the kid gloves, perhaps he would have performed it just as well, if not better. It wasn’t actually about the quarterback play but about a difference in quarterback philosophy where one quarterback was allowed to work and the other was not.

Ultimately, the rift between Arthur Smith and Russell Wilson came down to Smith’s frustration in not allowing the player he preferred at quarterback to have the freedoms for success while the player with glaring shortcomings that showed themselves at the end of the season was allowed to succeed simply because he was given the freedom. Smith did not like Fields having one arm tied behind his back, and since he couldn’t free Justin Fields, he decided to tie Russell Wilson’s arm instead.

Since Russell Wilson and the Steelers offense flopped at the end of the season, the move to go to Wilson does not look as brilliant. A case can be made Arthur Smith was right in the first place, making his ability to evaluate a quarterback no longer a negative had Wilson continued to thrive. As for the report coming out now about Smith not wanting Wilson to audible as much, that was done by the Wilson camp to make him look more like a capable quarterback as he hits the free agent market.

Could this idea be completely crazy? It likely is. Does it fit the definition of an unpopular opinion? Absolutely.

If nothing else, it’s at least a fun idea to discuss.