Steelers vs. Cowboys: Dwayne Haskins can tighten the race for QB2 tonight

Dwayne Haskins has been nipping at the heels of Mason Rudolph. Here’s why he could close the gap on the number two quarterback battle for Steelers tonight. 

Since the start of Steelers training camp at Heinz Field, Dwayne Haskins has clearly outperformed Mason Rudolph. This is hardly even an opinion at this point, as it’s one that everyone in Pittsburgh media will share.

Factually speaking, Haskins has averaged more yards per attempt than Rudolph, made more plays down the field, and has capped off each of his two-minute drills with a scoring touchdown. For Rudolph, things have not gone quite as swimmingly.

Over the past few weeks of practice, Rudolph has checked the ball down far too often and has made some very poor decisions with the football. In short, he’s been quite mediocre, and I’m sure the coaching staff has taken notice of the difference between these two young quarterbacks.

With the Hall of Fame Game against the Dallas Cowboys set to kick off tonight, Haskins will have a chance to further build on his very solid training camp performance. But could he do enough to surpass Mason Rudolph as the team’s primary backup quarterback in 2021?

Can Haskins leapfrog Rudolph on the Steelers depth chart?

The Pittsburgh Steelers were obviously very high on Mason Rudolph prior to the 2018 NFL Draft, and Mike Tomlin later admitted to having a first-round grade on the former Oklahoma State passer (which is a little concerning, to be quite honest). Because they held him in such high regard, they aren’t just going to hand the ropes over to Haskins after a handful of quality practices at Heinz Field.

Still, Haskins earning the number two quarterback job is well within the realm of possibility. Much of this determination may be made according to whether or not he rises to the stage during preseason action.

If training camp is any indicator, Haskins will look to throw the ball down the field more often than Rudolph, and his accuracy and decision-making in doing such could potentially elevate him above Rudolph. Against the Cowboys, Haskins is expected to get work late in the second quarter and well into the second half of the game.

Though Pittsburgh’s top pass catchers will probably be long removed from the game at this point, Haskins could have a favorable matchup against a weak second and third-team defense of Dallas.

With the race for QB2 narrowing, the difference in earning the primary backup job behind Ben Roethlisberger could come down to which quarterbacks make more plays during the preseason. While the Hall of Fame Game is projected to be a low-scoring contest featuring a bunch of backup players, you better believe the coaching staff will have their eye on these quarterbacks.

Mason Rudolph will remain the number two quarterback until Dwayne Haskins takes the job from him with impressive play. If he grossly outperforms Rudolph tonight, we could see a shift in the pecking order before the start of Pittsburgh’s next preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.