Last summer, the Steelers knew they were going to be without Ben Roethlisberger for 4 weeks. The biggest battle in training camp was to see who would get the game action in his place to start the season? Fortunately, the Steelers had 3 other QBs in Byron Leftwich, Dennis Dixon, and Charlie Batch. That’s a full roster of QBs right there, and the best player would win the job.
Well, not quite. Byron Leftwich is always assumed to be the de facto backup, but after suffering an injury in preseason, it was down to Dennis Dixon vs Charlie Batch. Dixon won the starting job for Week 1, but then he too was injured and that left Charlie Batch to come in and casually lead the team to a 2-1 record with him at the helm.
Those circumstances let the Steelers put off the tough decision of which of the 3 QBs doesn’t make the team. This year, so far, we don’t have any excuses. One of the four quarterbacks on the roster is going to have to go. If we assume Ben and Byron have their spots secured (and I do) that leaves Dixon and Batch. Just like last year, one of these guys is going to have to win the job. But it won’t be the starting job. They’ll have to win a paycheck from the Steelers each week.
I’ve been a supporter of Dixon in the past. He had a lot of upside and came into a good situation in the NFL where he could develop into a good quarterback. Four years later, I’m losing my interest in him. When is he going to show us what he can do? He led the team to an OT loss against Baltimore a few years ago and that gave us hope for his future, but he didn’t wow anybody with his performance as the starter, having a pretty bad game against Atlanta and then getting hurt. I understand that he can’t perform on the field if he’s injured and it might be wrong of me to judge him. Then again, Duce Staley was a very good running back. We’ll take his word for it because he never managed to get out of his sweats and onto the field.
Over the summer, some noise had been made that Dixon wanted to go to another team where he would have a chance to start. I don’t know a team out there that is so lacking at QB that they would rather throw in Dennis Dixon and his 4 career starts than whoever they already have. Cincinnati maybe? I think Dixon knows he’s going to have a hard time beating out Batch. But he was a free agent this year, and the Steelers brought him back on a one-year deal. They haven’t given up on him yet.
So it becomes a bit more perplexing that he only got into Friday’s game with a few minutes left in the 4th quarter. Batch got the lion’s share of the playing time and Dixon got mop-up duty. Odd situation for one guy who is established on the team and one who thinks he should be a starter in the NFL. Perhaps the quarterback rotation on Friday was a little bit of message-sending by the coaching staff? Who knows.
I’m not ready to give up on Double D just yet. But Charlie Batch’s experience and familiarity with the team is too valuable. My ideal scenario would be Charlie Batch hanging up the pads and joining the team as a QB coach. It’s a role that would suit him and he’d still be around. In an emergency situation, you can always bring him back on the field and he’ll probably lead a couple of solid drives down the field in the 3rd quarter for touchdowns or something.
Something I’ll take a particular interest in this Thursday will be the QB rotation. Does Batch still come in ahead of Dixon? How long will either of them play? Won’t it be kind of eerie watching Dennis Dixon and Vince Young play against each other?
Just another storyline worth watching this Thursday.
Here We Go.
