When the Pittsburgh Steelers finally get back to football, the battle for the backup quarterback spot will be one of the most heated and interesting. This will be the first time since the Steelers drafted Ben Roethlisberger back in 2004 there is going to be a fight for the backup spot with real meaning to it.
The contenders are Josh Dobbs and Mason Rudolph. Pittsburgh is finally entering the season with some real young talent behind Big Ben and not just a recycled veteran with no challenge for his job.
We saw this transition last offseason when Landry Jones playing the part of the veteran. But Dobbs and then rookie Rudolph weren’t going to go down without a fight. And by the end of the preseason Dobbs, in particular, was so good it gave the Steelers no other choice but to let Jones walk.
Now Pittsburgh enters an offseason where Dobbs has had a taste of being the backup but you can bet Rudolph isn’t content being the third quarterback on the roster and not dressing on gameday. Rudolph has more talent than Dobbs and with a year in the system ought to push Dobbs for reps in preseason.
All this circles around to Roethlisberger and how long he’s planning to stay. Big Ben is playing some of his best football and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. But it’s great knowing there are some legitimate young players behind him who the team can count on.
