Wanted: Fill-in Franchise Quarterback

By Kenneth Torgent

Many NFL teams go into the season pitting quarterbacks against each other in hopes of finding the most elusive of players, the franchise quarterback. This year, the Steelers are simply looking for a temporary starter to fill in for their own face of the franchise, Ben Roethlisberger, as he serves a four-to-six game suspension for repeated off-field issues.

To fill that void, Pittsburgh is evaluating three options: the young prospect, Dennis Dixon; the journeyman backup, Byron Leftwich; and the hometown hero, Charlie Batch. These three men are in the running for the job, but head coach Mike Tomlin isn't pitting them against each other.

"There won't be a position battle," insisted Tomlin. "I've never seen a three-headed quarterback battle turn out well. What we're gonna do is work with these guys for the remainder of the offseason. At the end of the offseason, I'm gonna make some hard, fast decisions that are based on good judgment and then move on to business of preparing the team to play for the season."

Veteran Hines Ward, the only wide receiver on the roster who has played with all three quarterbacks, has no idea who will start.

"I don't know whose job it is," offered Ward. "All of those guys are taking quality reps with the first, second and third groups. All of them look good."

Antwaan Randle El, currently in his second stint with the Steelers, thinks the competition is healthy.

"Who's gonna be able to step up?" asked Randle El. "You always need three [quarterbacks] and we have three good ones who can come in and play and win ball games for us. That's what you want on your team."

So who will be the guy to step up in Ben's absence? Dennis Dixon has athleticism and potential on his side, but needs experience. "No question that he's gonna get his opportunities," said Tomlin. "He's a guy that requires snaps in order to improve, so we gotta take care of him in terms of that."

Could that inexperience actually work in Dixon's favor as the team uses those Ben-less games to develop their young backup?

"If you want to use the first four-to-six games to develop a guy, sure. If you want to develop a new job for yourself, too, then sure," offered former-Steelers running back and ESPN analyst Merril Hoge, who insists that developing a quarterback is a good idea for the preseason, but that the coach should go with what he trusts when it counts. "That doesn't mean Dennis Dixon may not earn that trust during preseason, but at the end of the day, when your job's on the line, you go with what you trust."

What about Byron Leftwich, the former first-round pick from Jacksonville, who served as Big Ben's backup in 2008?

"Leftwich, he's a pure passer; he's really accurate," explained Hoge. "The problem is that with his slow delivery, he's gonna take more shots. Defenses are gonna attack him a lot more that they would [another quarterback] because they know they're gonna get there. When he's protected well though, he can be as good as anybody."

The statistics back that up as well. Leftwich appeared in five games for the 2008 Super Bowl champs, scoring three times with zero turnovers. Could Leftwich be the starter for the season opener?

Hoge doesn't think so.

"I still favor Charlie Batch," says Hoge. "The negative he's had is that he's been hurt and been banged around over the last few years. But to me, I would think that Charlie has the advantage in this one. Obviously, I think he knows the system well. I think he's as complete as you can get. He's won in this league and been really successful."

Hoge insists that Batch's experience is the key reason that he can win the job, but that there is another factor.

"Something that may be a factor in this one is that he's entrenched in the community. He's from the area. He's done a good job of giving back and building relationships there."

Batch, a native of Homestead, PA, received the first annual Jerome Bettis award in 2006 for his charity work.

Hoge also believes that no matter who starts, the offense will look different from the pass-heavy offense featured last season. The Steelers will likely be more balanced this season and that "Charlie fits that role very well."

Tomlin has already insisted that the Pittsburgh fan base will know who the starter is before the team begins training camp at St. Vincent College in late July, which is perfect in Ward's book.

"Whoever is named the starter, you would like to have that rapport and not have to keep answering the question of who's gonna be your starting quarterback," said Ward. "It's just going to be less of a distraction if you know who is the starting quarterback going in to training camp, and we can just focus and move on from there. Regardless of whoever is out there, we're gonna go out fighting and try to help this team win ball games."