On the surface, bringing in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields should boost a stagnant Pittsburgh Steelers passing game. ESPN’s annual predictions paints a different picture. Mike Clay’s yearly projections do show an improvement in the number of touchdown passes. But only by a little.
According to his algorithm, Wilson and Fields will throw just 20 combined touchdowns across 17 games in 2024. Wilson, starting 13 games, is predicted to throw 15 of them while Fields will throw five in four starts. If that’s the case, it’ll be only a minor upgrade over 2023 when Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph, and Mitch Trubisky threw for a combined 13 scores.