The Steelers defeated one of their former quarterbacks yesterday, but the other, Russell Wilson, may have defeated himself. Justin Fields, on the whole, played a very good game, and put 32 points on Pittsburgh. Were it not for a special teams turnover that led to seven points, he might easily have beaten the Steelers.
Russell Wilson didn’t look like he could beat his way through the wet end of a paper bag yesterday. In his New York Giants debut, he went 17-for-37 for 168 yards, averaging 4.5 yards per attempt. While he didn’t throw an interception, he didn’t throw a touchdown, either. Washington commanded New York throughout the game, claiming a 21-6 victory.
After the game, Giants HC Brian Daboll sidestepped multiple opportunities to commit to Wilson starting next week. While that doesn’t mean he won’t start, under most circumstances, a head coach knows who his starting quarterback will be a week in advance.
“We’re just right here after the game”, [Daboll said](https://www.giants.com/news/quotes-9-7-coach-brian-daboll-qb-russell-wilson-dl-dexter-lawrence-olb-brian-burns-wr-malik-nabers) when asked if he would contemplate a quarterback change for Week 2. While he repeatedly said he had confidence in Wilson, few saw much confidence in his answer. “We’re going to go back, we’ll evaluate the tape”, he expressed. But when you name a starting quarterback, you shouldn’t need to evaluate the tape before declaring him the starter for the very next game
This offseason, Russell Wilson signed a one-year, $10.5 million contract with the Giants. Daboll played him sparingly in the preseason, but got a long look at rookie first-round pick Jaxson Dart. Dart is Wilson’s backup, with Jameis Wilson serving as the emergency quarterback. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Dart would start if they made a change in the lineup. He did say that Dart earned the backup job, but also that he didn’t consider putting him in this game.
So why is Steelers Depot talking about Russell Wilson’s first start with the Giants? In this case, it’s because it [could directly affect their draft compensation for 2026](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/08/steelers-compensatory-pick-for-russell-wilson-could-be-tapped-out-if-jaxson-dart-hype-is-real/). And no, not everything has to be directly tied to attempting to trade up for a quarterback in the first round.
As things currently stand, the Steelers should recoup a fifth-round compensatory pick for losing Russell Wilson. If he were to go on to have an excellent season and unlock all of his incentives, it has the potential to rise as high as a third-round pick. But if Daboll isn’t even prepared to commit to him starting in Week 2 right now, that doesn’t bode well for his season, or for him helping the Steelers at all.
Wilson flashed at the beginning of his Steelers tenure, at least after recovering from a calf injury. He started off 6-1, but then lost his final five games. That final game market yet another premature ejection from the playoffs for the Steelers, prompting them to seek alternative remedies this offseason.