Cam Heyward: Russell Wilson knows how to beat top competition

The veteran defensive lineman is backing his quarterback

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback situation has been the talk of the offseason. Going from Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, and Mason Rudolph to Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, and Kyle Allen is quite the turnaround, and one Steelers fans aren’t used to seeing.

It was reported that ahead of Wilson signing with Pittsburgh, multiple Steelers’ veterans recruited the Super Bowl champion to join the team- one of which was Cam Heyward, who went to dinner with Wilson and spoke with him on the phone for an hour ahead of him signing.

The Walter Payton Man of the Year joined the Rich Eisen Show, and was asked why he wanted to bring Wilson to the Steelers.

“We were losing quarterbacks left and right,” Heyward said. “Mason Rudolph had just left, Mitch Trubisky was gone. And I thought there was gonna be a competition there between [Wilson] and Kenny. But now going forward, you just look at the leadership he’s had. A guy who has been in Seattle, he’s won games, won a Super Bowl already. He didn’t have the best time in Denver, but I think he’s a hungry guy who’s ready to prove a lot of people wrong. On the offensive side of the ball, we have so many great weapons and some of them are younger. So having a more established guy who has been through it is gonna benefit the group.”

Heyward was asked if the Steelers need Wilson to become the Seattle version of himself, or if he’ll have to fit himself into a different mold to fit into what the Steelers want to do.

“I think it can be a blend of both,” Heyward said. “You look at what our defense can do. We can score points on defense, we have opportunistic special teams. I think it’s about growth. Whether it’s adjusting to the needs of the game or understanding that hey, we may need you to go on a run a little bit. We might need you to score some points. Yeah, we want that. But I think he can have a balance game-to-game. Not many people beat Patrick Mahomes last year, but Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos did last year. I know it’s not one guy that gets it done but you’ve gotta think Russ has done it in this game and knows how to beat top competition.”

Wilson is coming off a season in which he threw for 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions, ranking 13th in EPA + CPOE composite.