The Pittsburgh Steelers are now in Latrobe at Saint Vincent College, where they have held their training camp sessions since 1966. While the vast majority of the legwork of building the 90-man roster is done, there is always some fine tinkering to do. Now it’s time to figure out who is worthy of a roster spot, and what their role will be.
The team made some bold moves this offseason and in some areas of the roster look quite a bit different than they did a year ago. That would especially be the case at wide receiver and inside linebacker, where they’re bound to have new starters.
How will those position groups sort themselves out? How will the young players advance into their expected roles? Will the new coaches be up to the task? Who is looking good in practice? Who is sitting out due to injury?
These are the sorts of questions among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked, though there is rarely a concrete answer, as I’ve learned in my years of doing this.
Question: Who will look better in the first preseason game between Joshua Dobbs and Mason Rudolph?
There is a football game on. Tomorrow. The Steelers will be participating in that game. Football is upon us, ladies and gentlemen.
Granted, that football will be a far cry from what should be expected for a meaningful game, but those who come here tend to be the ones who are actually just as interested in seeing Ulysees Gilbert III and Lavon Hooks as they are in the starters.
Oddly enough, the most-talked-about quarterback this training camp may not be Ben Roethlisberger, or even Mason Rudolph and Joshua Dobbs, but rather rookie undrafted free agent Devlin Hodges, who admittedly has been getting a lot of attention lately.
But this question isn’t about Hodges. It’s about the two players who are vying for the backup quarterback job. Right now, Hodges isn’t in that discussion, and we won’t frame him as a part of it unless his performance merits it.
Mike Tomlin confirmed that Dobbs, last year’s backup, would start the first preseason game, and that Rudolph would play as well. Beyond that, we don’t know the details of how long either will play. They may each play a half. It depends upon how the game unfolds.
Who will show up better, though? Both have had their ups and downs in training camp so far, though Dobbs is actually heading into the first preseason game on more of a high note, and a better trajectory, than is last year’s third-round pick.
