Same as they did last year, the Steelers have to address quarterback this offseason. Unlike last year, the team plans to run it back with one of their quarterbacks from the previous season. Though it's not yet certain whether it'll be Russell Wilson or Justin Fields, now might be the time to buy in on Fields.

In their respective meetings with reporters after the season, both Mike Tomlin and Art Rooney II praised Fields' 2024 season, both in terms of performance and the way he carried himself after being benched in favor of Wilson.

"He handled the situation, I think, as a young quarterback who wants to come in and learn and grow and I think he did grow and I think he does have that mindset that he wants to get better," Rooney said last Monday. "So, I think that makes you feel like you want to potentially work with him again in the future."

Rooney also said the team will likely only bring back one of the two quarterbacks, that he'd prefer it to be for more than just one year and that age will play a factor in the decision. Based on all of the evidence at hand, it sure sounds like the preference is to keep Fields.

On the surface, it may not excite fans to buy in on Fields as the unquestioned starting quarterback. The former 11th overall pick of the Bears will be entering his fifth season. The team that drafted him that high traded him away for just a sixth-round pick to pave the way for drafting another quarterback even higher. And in those three seasons in Chicago, Fields went 10-28 as a starter and turned the ball over 41 times in 50 total games and 44 starts.

Even so, there are a few different factors to consider for bringing Fields back. First and most obvious is his drastic improvement in limiting turnovers. While Fields fumbled six times in as many starts, and had multiple center-quarterback exchange issues early on, he only lost one of those fumbles, which came on a play where he tried to make something happen when he should have just lived to fight another down.

The good thing is those moments were few and far between. The better thing is Fields only threw one interception in his six starts, totaling just two turnovers. That's a 60% improvement in turnovers per game. That's drastic growth, especially since arguably the biggest knock on him from fans was how often he turned the ball over. The metrics support growth in this area, too. According to Pro Football Focus, Fields had a turnover-worthy play only 2.8% of the time in 2024, the best mark of his career and nearly a whole percentage lower than his career average.

Tomlin doesn't like to take too many chances on offense. Fields provided an ability to stretch the field with his arm and threaten defenses with his legs, but he did so while protecting the football. A lot of people wouldn't have bet on that given his track record in Chicago.

In addition to a significant improvement in limiting turnovers, Fields also grew as a passer. Everyone knows about his ability to run as he's one of just three quarterbacks in NFL history to record a 1,000-yard season on the ground (Michael Vick, Lamar Jackson). But, Fields made strides in his efficiency throwing the ball. Overall, Fields completed 65.8% of his passes and posted a 93.3 passer rating, both career bests. However, a closer look shows even more growth.

Fields showed marked improvement on his intermediate throws, which are 10-19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Over his six starts, he completed 59.1% of his throws to this portion of the field, posting a passer rating of 130.9 and 11.8 yards per attempt. That passer rating is far and away better than anything he did with the Bears, as he posted passer ratings of 81.4, 106.5 and 50.4 in each of those three seasons, respectively. His turnover-worthy play rate with the Steelers when targeting the intermediate portion was 4.3%, which is drastically better than the 7.3% he had in 2023 and the 11.1% he had in 2022. Two of his five passing touchdowns also came on intermediate throws, including this gem to Calvin Austin III that came from making a great read and throw from the pocket between defenders:

In the playoff loss to the Ravens, Wilson didn't attempt one pass between 10-19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. The intermediate game with the 13-year veteran was nonexistent, despite him posting a 135.0 passer rating, which actually makes it even more maddening. It becomes a lot easier to defend if defenses know everything is going to either be close to the line of scrimmage or deep down the field.

Fields and Wilson targeted the intermediate range at nearly the same rate, about one-fifth of the time. That could be because the offense was installed around Wilson having Tomlin's "pole position" as the starter, and Wilson and Fields play two different games. If the Steelers bring back Fields, Smith can better tailor the offense to his strengths, and just as he did with limiting turnovers, he also took huge steps in becoming a better passer to an area of the field he was previously prone to turning over the football.

One area in which Fields was outright better than Wilson was in the red zone, and that comes as a huge surprise since Wilson is known for being great in that area of the field. Even in 2023, his last season in Denver, 20 of Wilson's 26 touchdown passes were inside the red zone. However, the Steelers converted 56.3% of their red zone trips with Fields and only converted 45% with Wilson, lowering the team's overall success to 48.2%, the fourth-worst rate in the league.

This is where Fields' legs were most dangerous with the Steelers. Despite him only having five passing touchdowns, all five of his rushing touchdowns came in the red zone. Without those five rushing scores, the Steelers' red zone percentage with Fields would have been just 31.3%. And, those came in multiple ways. Two were designed runs and three came while improvising after nothing was open through the air.

And, just to clear on the concerns that Fields didn't throw enough touchdowns through the air, his 3.1% touchdown pass rate was still significantly higher than Kenny Pickett's 1.8% over 25 games with the team. While Wilson had a much higher rate of 4.8%, Fields averaged 1.67 total touchdowns per game, which is more than Wilson's 1.64 touchdowns or Pickett's laughable 0.68 touchdowns during their respective Steelers careers. All touchdowns count the same, whether they come through the air or on the ground. Nobody's complaining that 12 of Josh Allen's 40 total touchdowns came on the ground. Six points are six points.

While it might not be the most important factor, we cannot ignore the fact the Fields will be playing in his age 26 season in 2025. Some might argue that Fields already is who he is because he's four seasons into his career. However, some those who work in the game -- coaches, players, scouts, executives -- have a general consensus that quarterbacks don't fully mature until 28-30 years of age, regardless of how much previous NFL experience they may or may not have.

Other scouts I trust say quarterbacks can mature quicker, but it also depends on their situations throughout their respective careers. And, I don't think it takes much to see that Fields' situation in Chicago was less than ideal. He had two different head coaches and two different coordinators in three seasons. Meanwhile, the team of Arthur Smith, Tom Arth, Mike Sullivan and others have gotten the most out of Fields during his four NFL seasons. And, regardless of whether or not you're a fan of Smith, he helped a 31-year old Ryan Tannehill go from a first-round bust into a Pro Bowl player and Comeback Player of the Year.

It's fair to be concerned about the risk here. No question about that, and it shouldn't be ignored. Fields may still be young, but the growth laid out here is from a six-game sample size. That's very, very small considering the idea of giving Fields a multiyear contract that would likely come with some guaranteed money beyond the first year. But, some fans were more than okay giving Mason Rudolph a new contract and shot at being the starter after finally looking like a legitimate NFL quarterback in a four-game stretch to close out the 2023 season. And this came after spending his first six seasons as a backup or inactive No. 3, and even lost his once chance at starting for an extended period of time to Devlin Hodges, who's known more for his duck calling and famous girlfriend more than being an NFL quarterback.

Fields isn't the addition fans really want to see, because what they want more than anything regarding the roster is another franchise quarterback. Even considering all of the good he did in Pittsburgh, it's far from a guarantee to assume Fields will be this franchise's quarterback for the next decade. But, unless the Rams make Matthew Stafford available via trade, Fields is arguably the best option for 2025. And, he can still come at a relatively cheap cost, so it's a good time to buy stock now and revisit the long-term future at the position in next year's draft should Fields fail. And if he finally realizes his potential, then the Steelers win -- and did it in a much quicker time than the 21 years between Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger.