A look at Steelers training camp battles heading into 2019

Backup quarterback

The Steelers will have a competition in camp for who will be the backup to Ben Roethlisberger. They had this same role up for grabs last year when Josh Dobbs played well in the final game of the preseason and caused Landry Jones to be cut.

Dobbs will have to defend the #2 job again in 2019 as Mason Rudolph will be gunning for it. I give the edge to Dobbs, but the Steelers liked Mason Rudolph enough before the draft in 2018 to call him a first-round value.

Josh Dobbs is the favorite because of his experience and upside. He has been in the league for two years and was the backup in 2018. He played average for a backup in 2018, but showed some aggressiveness which is an upgrade over the backup quarterback play of the past three or four years.

Landry Jones was serviceable at times, but was very much a system quarterback and still made bad reads. Dobbs is more aggressive and can run more when called upon. He also has a good background as an aerospace engineering major at the University of Tennessee.

Mason Rudolph is the quarterback of the future and so the hope is that he will take a big step forward in 2019. Rudolph did not play in the regular season; so, it is hard to judge his progression from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

He played okay in the preseason of 2018, but I would have liked to see more potential as the Steelers drafted him with a hope that he would take over for Ben Roethlisberger when he decides to retire. However, there is a reason that he was drafted in the third round and that is because he doesn’t have overwhelming arm strength and has average accuracy. The Steelers hope his football IQ leads to growth over time as a passer.