The Pittsburgh Steelers have now released an updated depth chart ahead of their week 1 road game against the Cleveland Browns and it shows that second-year quarterback Joshua Dobbs is the backup behind starter Ben Roethlisberger with rookie Mason Rudolph being the No. 3.
Dobbs listed as Roethlisberger’s Week 1 backup isn’t a huge surprise now that the team has parted ways with their previous No. 2 signal-caller, Landry Jones, who had his contract terminated on Saturday.
If the latest team depth chart holds up between now and the team’s week 1 game against the Browns, Rudolph, the team’s first of two third-round draft picks this year, will likely be one of the seven inactive players for that contest.
ETA: Dobbs confirmed on Monday after practice that he’s been told he’ll enter the 2018 regular season as the backup behind Roethlisbereger, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com.
Dobbs and Rudolph could conceivably battle throughout the season for the right to backup Roethlisberger on game days. For now, however, Dobbs being the more experienced of the two has seemingly won out.
We’ll see on Tuesday if head coach Mike Tomlin comments on the team’s decision to move on from Jones in lieu of Dobbs and if indeed he is going with the former fourth-round draft pick out of Tennessee as the No. 2 against the Browns in Cleveland on Sunday.
In other things notable on the team’s first chart of 2018, veteran inside linebacker Jon Bostic is listed as the starter beside Vince Williams. That’s not a new development, however, as that’s the way the defense closed out the preseason after Tyler Matakevich was originally listed as the starter ahead of Bostic.
Additionally, rookie running back Jaylen Samuels is initially listed ahead of veteran running back Stevan Ridley on the Week 1 depth chart.
