The journey toward the Super Bowl is now well under way with the Pittsburgh Steelers back practicing at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, still informally referred to as the ‘South Side’ facility. With the regular season standing in their way on the path to a Lombardi, there will be questions for them to answer along the way.
We have asked and answered a lot of questions during the preseason and through training camp, but much of the answer-seeking ends in the regular season, and teams simply have to make do with what they have available to them. Still, there will always be questions for us.
You can rest assured that we have the questions, and we will be monitoring the developments in the regular season and beyond as they develop, looking for the answers as we evaluate the makeup of the Steelers on their way back to the Super Bowl, after reaching the AFC Championship game last season for the first time in more than half a decade.
Question: Game Edition – Will Joshua Dobbs take a snap in the regular season finale?
Following the somewhat recent activation and participation of third-round pick Cameron Sutton, who even started a game at left outside cornerback, the only rookie remaining on the 53-man roster who has not been involved in any game in any way is fourth-round quarterback Joshua Dobbs.
Not that that should be particularly surprising. Ben Roethlisberger has remained healthy throughout the season, and has only come off the field late in two games that were blowout victories. His backup, fifth-year veteran Landry Jones, has remained healthy as well. The ideal is always for the third quarterback not to play.
And they should only dress if your team has succeeded so well that by the end of the season the finale hold little to no meaning for your team, such that you feel comfortable sitting your starter. Which seems to be where the Steelers find themselves.
Jones is expected to start, though that hasn’t been confirmed. And if he does or does not, there is still a possibility Roethlisberger could dress, though my guess is that he will not, and that Dobbs will be Jones’ backup for the game.
Zach Mettenberger was Jones’ backup last year, and he did not play, but the finale was close throughout, and even went into overtime. Should the Steelers have a relatively comfortable lead, would the coaching staff get the urge to want to see what their rookie quarterback looks in a semi-meaningful game?
