3 Steelers positional battles that just got tighter after win vs Cowboys
By Tommy Jaggi
The Steelers had some young players step up to the plate against the Cowboys, but here’s why these positional battlers are now higher than they were.
It was a sloppy start to the NFL preseason as the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys combined for just 19 points in the Hall of Fame Game. Both teams had a few players that stood out in big ways.
Alex Highsmith was electrifying for the Steelers in the first quarter before he made his exit from the game, as he recorded a few pressures and a sack on an impressive spin move. Some other young players like James Pierre and Pressley Harvin performed well in the spotlight as well.
While the first preseason game was very telling in some regards, it also muddied the waters in a few positional battles. Here are three battles that just got a little tighter after the Steelers win over the Cowboys:
Steelers backup quarterback
Prior to the start of training camp, Pittsburgh’s quarterback depth chart was pretty straightforward. Ben Roethlisberger was obviously listed as the starter and Mason Rudolph was the primary backup. After these two, Dwayne Haskins was slated as the team’s third quarterback with Josh Dobbs rounding out the depth.
During the past two weeks of training camp, Dwayne Haskins started to close the gap on Rudolph for the number two job, and many thought with a solid preseason performance, Haskins could leapfrog Rudolph on the depth chart. That didn’t happen.
Haskins lacked both accuracy and touch in this contest as he completed 8 of 13 passes for a dismal 54 yards (4.2 yards per attempt) and a 70.7 passer rating, according to ESPN. This is not the performance fans were expecting. Rudolph wasn’t much better for most of his time on the field, but his numbers got a boost thanks to a nice 45-yard catch by Chase Claypool.
By the end of the game, it was actually Josh Dobbs who did the best job moving the sticks and controlling the offense, and he finished with a 122.9 passer rating in limited action. This race is far from over, folks.