4 biggest positional battles to watch at Steeler training camp in 2021
By Tommy Jaggi
Pittsburgh Steelers training camp has officially begun. Here are the four biggest camp battles to keep a close eye on in 2021.
Steelers training camp is officially under weigh, and their roster is looking very different than it did just a season ago. Despite the organization agreeing to let Ben Roethlisberger give it one last go in 2021, the 18-year veteran quarterback lost much of his supporting cast – including former All-Pro offensive linemen Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro. In fact, there are projected to be four new starters on the offensive line alone.
Defensively, the Steelers were one of the toughest units to face last season, but the loss of players like Bud Dupree, Steven Nelson, Mike Hilton, and Vince Williams shakes things up a bit.
With a big 2021 draft class that includes 9 players and several new additions to the team in free agency since the end of last season, it’s going to be interesting to see how these players sort themselves out. Here are the Steelers four biggest positional battles to keep an eye on in 2021:
Quarterback
Like it or not, the top two players on the depth chart have already been sorted out. Ben Roethlisberger is going to be the starting quarterback for Pittsburgh in 2021 and, barring something completely out of left field, Mason Rudolph is poised to be the primary backup this season.
That means that there are two dogs fighting for one bone for the final quarterback spot on the roster. The Steelers signed former Washington first-round pick, Dwayne Haskins, soon after he was dismissed from the team in just his second NFL season. Not long after, the team also signed Josh Dobbs, who had spent most of his 2020 season with the Jaguars.
Haskins and Dobbs are two very different quarterbacks. Though most would argue that Haskins has more arm talent and upside as a potential future starting quarterback, Dobbs is the far more athletic player of the two and has the advantage of already knowing the system. Most project Haskins to win this job, but Dobbs is actually making a bit more money on his one-year deal. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.