Why Not Charlie?

It’s not going to happen, for the obvious reason that Batch hasn’t taken any preseason snaps with the starters.

Nevertheless, in my mind Batch and Leftwich are essentially equivalent. Both are reliable QBs with proven track records in the NFL. Both have shown that they are good enough to play in the NFL, but not necessarily among the top 20 or so QBs. The only advantage Leftwich has is that he can be included in future plans. In other words, playing him now will contribute to future game readiness, and potential for success as a backup.

But your points are all good, and I REALLY wonder how Tomlin and co. feel about Batch. I bet that we are in for some surprises in the game against Atlanta. I will be surprised if we DON’T see both Leftwich and Dixon. So who knows about Batch?

Batch is around for the off the field/sideline leadership-that’s all…Charlie understands it as well

I will say that I counted Batch out early but the more I think about it…

The more I realize that Batch could, repeat could, work in that 4 game stretch. He has something the other two are lacking, awareness. Byron, as we all know has that slow release and isn’t always quick to wind it up either. That much has become obvious in this preseason where the o-line has failed to give him ample time continuously.

Dixon obviously has got the legs on Charlie, and the arm strength…..but Batch is by far the more intelligent of the two. He will know when to throw it away as well as what his limitations are.

Its a hard call, but I do think we have 3 legit contenders.

because charlie will break in one play. hes older than he was when he last came in as a suitable backup

While he was obviously playing with and against different folks Sunday night, Charlie was the one of the three “placeholders” who looked like he knew what he was doing and had the confidence to do it. And as NY4 points out, there is depth everywhere — accordingly, worries about injury do appear moot.

I’d like to see Batch start Thursday. Yes, Batch has been injury prone the last couple of years, but he is still on this roster. Let’s put him in and see what he can do. He may get injured, but he may do well. We are probably going to have to cut one of the QBs when Ben comes back anyway, are we not? Why not give them all a start in preseason, as (some sort of) a baseline evaluation?

Where was this question two weeks ago?

Answer: No where, because nobody considered him a viable replacement back then.

I’m not surprised some fans might consider asking this question, he was the only back-up QB who looked halfway decent. He was out there with the scrubs, because they are not considering him. Frankly, if the coaching staff did throw Batch in the sweepstakes at this point, I would have strong concerns about their competence. I like Charlie, but the decision was made early on that he was going to play real football only in an emergency. Neither Leftwich, nor Dixon has been so bad that we need Charlie’s services at this point.

Batch would end up being the "virgin" sacrifice to the football gods in exchange for a successful season, then we would be back to square one with the decision, Dixon or Leftwich. I highly doubt Coach Tomlin or any of us wants that to be on our minds

there’s no way chaz makes that throw to mike wallace that lord byron dropped in there to him against the gigantes. there’s no way chaz can hit the mohawk in stride on any pass, for that matter.

BUT… i wonder if we don’t keep chaz instead of leftwich when ben comes back.

i think most people assume if chaz is #3 without ben, that would make him #4 when ben comes back. but you make the argument for why we should keep chaz and drop lord byron when the suspension is over. chaz certainly knows the offense mo’ better than the sandwich, and he’s certainly the better clipboard-guy (read: extra “coach” if you wanna call it that).

i really think we’ll cut byron when ben comes back. and all your arguments in your post are the reasons i think chaz stays on this team, but none of them are reasons to start him in ben’s absence.

But as was mentioned, I think it’s unrealistic to think he could or should be the starter because of not having much time with them this offseason. However, I think you make a great point that it might make more sense to release Byron or try to trade Dixon than it would be to dump Batch.

Good stuff even if most won’t agree with you.

I like Batch, but our offensive line is average with a soon to be star rookie at center who will still make the occasional rookie mistake. It’s inevitable that the QB is going to suffer some pain and punishment and Leftwich is much more able to take that abuse than Batch.

Batch may be more fleet afoot but he’s gonna get tagged by blitzing linebackers and it won’t be long until before he breaks down. 4 games is an eternity for a guy like him and it just isn’t realistic.

+1

I hope he will be around this organization for years to come, even after his retirement as a player. Which makes my opinion so tough. There is no way he should get the starter job. He has become so fragile that I cringe every time someone touches him. Especially with our offensive line, that should not happen with our quarterback.

Also, both Leftwich and Dixon bring unique abilities to the table that make it more difficult for teams to defend against them. Dixon has the obvious running ability, Leftwich the cannon arm. Charlie has neither. Yes, he has the smarts, and a deep knowledge of the playbook, but what help is that if 4 of our 6 receivers are in their first year with this team, and don’t even know the entire playbook themselves?

That said though, I enjoyed reading a well-written argument about a position that is definitely not very popular among Steeler fans. So thank you for that! :)

Nothing against Batch, but Leftwich clearly is a better back-up QB and far more experienced than Dixon. But neither Leftwich nor Batch have been particularly durable during their careers, so DD might wind up playing anyway.

I don’t believe Tomlin feels that his starting QB is a toss-up at this late stage. I think he decided quite some time ago that Leftwich is the guy.

Honestly the coaches have to make the call and I cant imagine the decision when looking at game film from different games, different QBs, who played different reps with different players. What happened was this – Leftwich was appointed the starter for having a better camp. Dixon was having a better preseason against lesser defenses, while playing with lesser talent to boot. Dixon gets the chance to swap snaps with Lefty, and fails. Leftwich plays with lesser players against a lesser defense, though outmatching the Steelers toe to toe. You see their is no answer. It is very tough and we can all agree the Steelers need to do EVERYTHING to win without Ben. As bad as the Bronco game looked, we wont be seeing david johnson, brown and sanders fielding passes from Dixon or leftwich. It will be a curious Oline, Leftwich under center with Ward, Wallace, El and Miller. Mendenhall will be the back. I seriously dont know how anyone can make a decision from preseason play. It has to be your starting 11 vs their starting 11, Period. Thats the only way to know for certain. Preseason is for individuals to correct their mistakes and push to make the team, aside form the locks that know their assignments. Week 1 is worth watching closely, and the Preseason does not worry me. I belive theyve said their plan is to start Lefty and add Dixon for a change of pace, and I assume they stick with that plan all the way.

I was hoping Charlie would get hurt in the preseason and he’d be put on injured reserve so he gets a paycheck for the season instead of cutting the man. Great argument though. His only real issue is his fragility.

I think he is good for 1 start here or there, but not 4 in a row

I was hoping Dixon would show up better, but have to say Leftwich is my pick

I think the ability to play smash mouth ball is the key to winning during the suspension

that menas we have to convert 3rd and 2 or less

If Batch is healthy and nobody knows better than the coaches, he should start. Isn’t he the backup QB? So far in preseason he has looked good. The first 4 games is a prefect time for some Batch games until he breaks down. I think Lefty was brought in because Batch might not have been fully recovered from his surgery. Throw in those pre designed game plans with DD at the helm and we have an exciting first 4 games. DD has a strong arm and one of those plans should be long to Wallace. Batch can get the running game going. Mixing it up with DD and defences would be substituting more than usual. Lefty can be the backup for the first 4. Lefty will eat a lot of grass!

Batch would’ve brought alot to the table as far as knowing our system and the players. His knowledge of our offense surpasses BA(ok I guess that isn’t saying much). It’s just too late to go that direction.
  
The inability of the o-line to create enough time is going to kill us regardless who we put in at QB. It’s been obvious with Leftwich, a hugh part of why he’s looked so bad this preseason. We’d see the same with Batch in, he’d have the advantage of making much quicker reads though. Dixon seems to be the best bet because he can scramble out of this pressure, but that also becomes his downfall. He’s got to have “throw the ball to make BA happy” lingering in the back of his mind on every play. Dixon is not ready to start, he wants to be. We want him to be. I think he’s tried to force too much. He doesn’t want to let the organization down and all the pressure has helped lead to his mental errors on the field.

Dixon could’ve been the game manager that we needed for the first four games, but he’s just not allowed to play his game. I think if coaching staff knew our o-line would be in it’s current state going into the season, they give Dixon the starting position from the beginning. It would’ve lessened the pressure for him to not have to beat out Leftwich, not have to play beyond who he is.

Games 1-4:
Leftwich starts. Batch is backup, taking over if Leftwich is injured during a game. Dixon comes in for special packages only. If Leftwich is injured for an extended period, evaluate at that time whether to use Batch or Dixon as the starter.

After game 4 (knock on wood):
Ben starts. Release Batch or Leftwich (this would be a tough decision — would depend on how Leftwich did, and whether we could get something in return for Leftwich or Dixon). Dixon comes in for special packages only.

We all love Charlie, but when was the last time he came into a game when you said to yourself “Oh boy, Charlie’s in! That’ll shake things up!” Batch is merely adequate as a back-up. He can be counted on not to make TOO many mistakes, but is not likely to win the game for you, especially coming from behind. He is a placeholder until the starter can come back in.

No one was on the Batch train until Sunday.

He was too old. He’d lost his arm strength. He’d lost his mobility. He hadn’t looked great in training camp. He was an injury waiting to happen. Perhaps most important; he’d gotten no snaps with the first team. I think if we went back and checked a week ago, we’d find an absurdly low percentage of people on this site and Steeler Nation as a whole that thought Batch, rather than Dixon or Leftwich, was the right man for the job.

This may be the first time in NFL history that a fanbase has taken a 4th string QB and asked that he be elevated to the starting job based on a single fourth quarter performance in a preseason game. And it’s starting to blow my mind.

Leftwich fans have made a ton of comments in favor of him that begin with "the thing people forget about Leftwich is…" that I won’t bother to echo here. Except one:

The thing people forget about Leftwich is that he, of the three quarterbacks on the roster, was the man the coaching staff seemed to choose as the front-runner from the very beginning. He was the man given the most reps in training camp and preseason with the first team. He was the man praised by beat reporters as having the best leadership in the locker room, for making the fewest mistakes in practice, for having the best arm.

The experience Pouncey has had in pre-season shows that if you have a great camp, even with the second team, and elevate your play during games, this coaching staff is open to letting you show what you can do with the first team. That goes for quarterbacks too. And the Pouncey experience showed that, if you’re the right man for the job, you should be able to elevate your play and prove you belong with the first team even if you haven’t gotten a lot of reps at the position with those players. That also goes for quarterbacks too.

I was on the Dixon train for much of this offseason, but I understand now what beat reporters have been saying and the coaching staff has been hinting all along: Dixon isn’t ready to take over the first team full-time, despite his good showing in the first two preseason games. I don’t think now is the time to frantically turn to Batch and expect an old man with no first team snaps to do well just because Dixon failed in the spotlight and Batch succeeded against scrubs in garbage time. Dixon did that too, and look how he fared on Sunday.

Byron Leftwich has the best combination of experience, knowledge and physical skills on our current QB roster. Steeler nation has to take five or six very deep breaths and take what little comfort they can from that fact.

Interesting stuff Rick…First, congrats on getting almost 24 hours of lead time with this piece! My last two have averaged about 3 hours, so you da man! To your points, the best one is that health and fragile mean nothing. I said the same about Dixon. People were afraid he’d get hurt by running – so what? I’d start Dixon and let him run wild. If he gets hurt, you’re no worse than not playing him anyhow. Same with Batch, if you like that option. He is never supposed to play for us again, so if he gets hurt, so be it.

For those of us who like the other two better than Batch, I wonder if Whisenhunt would want Batch? What might we get for him